'Batted for the first time in 20 days': Ajinkya Rahane hits the Delhi Capitals nets ahead of IPL 2021

IPL 2021: Ajinkya Rahane who last played in the four-match Test series against England, had been away from cricket for close to three weeks before picking up the bat in the Delhi Capitals nets on Tuesday.

Delhi Capitals batsman Ajinkya Rahane came out of the mandatory 7-day quarantine on Tuesday and batted after a gap of 20 days ahead of IPL 2021.

Ajinkya Rahane batting in the Delhi Capitals nets (Special arrangement)

Rahane who last played in the four-match Test series against England, had been away from cricket for close to three weeks before picking up the bat in the Delhi Capitals nets on Tuesday.

Rahane said he was just looking to get in the groove before the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League kickstarts on April 9.

"I batted for the first time in 20 days. We came out after being in quarantine for seven days, so I was just looking to get into the groove and get into a good rhythm. And as we get closer to the tournament, it will be all about maintaining that good rhythm and momentum," said Delhi Capitals' batsman Ajinkya Rahane.

A few members of the Delhi Capitals team, who have assembled in Mumbai, carried out their first practice session at the Cricket Club of India. After being in quarantine for one week, the players got an opportunity to test their skills.

Apart from Rahane, another senior member of the DC squad who hit the nets on Tuesday was veteran leg-spinner Amit Mishra.

Mishra’s season had ended early last time around due to an unfortunate injury. The crafty leg-spinner would look to show his guile in this IPL.

Mishra said everyone looked terrific during the team's first practice session, "All the boys are looking good here on the field. They are all ready to put in the hard yards and it's nice to see the youngsters practicing hard as well."

The 38-year-old added that apart from honing his bowling prowess, he is focussing on improving his batting as well, "I am working on my batting. The coaches have also told me to keep practicing my batting as there might be situations in matches when I will have to string partnerships of 25-30 runs. We need to be ready for everything. Basically, if I am batting with a recognized batsman then I should focus on taking singles and giving the strike to my partner," he said.

Rishabh Pant was announced as the new captain of Delhi Capitals in place Shreyas Iyer, who was ruled out of IPL 2021 due to a shoulder injury suffered during the India vs England 1st ODI in Pune.