For most Indian cricketers on the wrong side of 30s (and not in the scheme of Team India things), the offer of being a TV expert is one they cannot refuse. But, Ajinkya Rahane did.

The 36-year-old, who was dropped from the Indian team after the 2023 World Test Championship final, was offered the role of an expert during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series. Though it was “easy and good money”, Rahane rejected it since he felt that he still had it in him. “… within me, a person is saying I still can. Getting picked or not is not in my hands. Down the line, I don’t want a situation where I feel that the expert assignment could have been taken up later. That, I could have given one last push,” he told The Indian Express in an interview.

Rahane, who last played for India in the West Indies almost two years ago, has played 85 Tests and scored over 5,000 runs. He has not given up hopes of a comeback to international cricket, and is currently leading Mumbai against Vidarbha in the second semifinal of the Ranji Trophy 2025.

India were thrashed 1-3 in the five-match BGT series against Australia, with almost all the batters struggling to deal with the Aussie pacers. Ironically, it was Rahane who led India to an epic 2-1 win Down Under in 2021. There have been calls since to bring back Test veterans Rahane and Pujara into the fold to lend some stability to the fragile Indian middle-order. But, the Indian selectors have so far resisted the temptation.

‘There was no communication’: Rahane on snub from selectors

Rahane, to his credit, still feels that he has a lot of cricket left in him, and said that it is his passion for Test cricket that is keeping him going. And so, when he dropped after the WTC final by the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee without any explanation, he was hurt. “I am not the person who will go and ask why I am being dropped. There was no communication,” Rahane said in the interview.

“Many said ‘go and talk’ but one can only talk when the other person is ready to talk. If he is not ready, there is no point fighting. I wanted to talk one on one. I never messaged. I felt odd when I was dropped after the WTC final because I had worked hard for it. I thought I would be there for the next series. There is no point cribbing. I can only do what is in my hands.”

Rahane pointed out that a batter can play till 40 if he is fit and is playing well, and added that the team should have the right mix of veterans and youngsters. And even the senior players can learn a thing or two about the changing ways of the world from the new generation. “Now I am told I need to speak up, talk about my hard work. People say you need to be in the news,” Rahane told The Indian Express. “I don’t have a PR team, my only PR is my cricket. I have now realised that staying in the news is important. Otherwise, people think that I’m out of the circle.”