Ajinkya Rahane has finally decided to drop the ‘good boy’ avatar and has started addressing or responding to his critics who do not feel he belongs in the Indian Test cricket team anymore.

Before the third Test between India and England in Leeds’ Headingley Carnegie cricket which begins on Wednesday, the Team India deputy-in command spoke about how he is enjoying the fact that the haters are talking about Cheteshwar Pujara and his position in the squad.

"I am happy that people are talking about me. I have always believed that people talk about important people, so I am not too concerned about that. It's all about contribution for the team," Rahane said.

"I always believed in contribution and that contribution was satisfying. You think about your own game but team performance is ultimate. You think about your methods, your good innings and what suits you but ultimately whatever team needs we focus on that."

"The communication was all about short targets and build it on from there. Cheteshwar, we always talk that he plays slow but that innings was really important for us. He batted for 200 balls. We back each other," he said.

Up until the first innings of the match, Rahane’s form looked dicey as he was unable to put runs on the board and ended up losing his wicket to England veteran James Anderson on the 23rd delivery after scoring a solitary run.

However, it was the second innings in which Rahane forced the critics to eat their words when he anchored the batting order with his steady and masterful batting alongside Cheteshwar Pujara after the top order of KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were dismissed for a total of 55 runs.

Pujara and Rahane stitched a 100-run partnership during which the former scored 45 runs while eating up 205 deliveries while Rahane struck 61 runs in 146 balls to not only help India reach a respectable total but also spend the crucial moments of the penultimate day, which could have made the victory easier for the hosts had he gotten out sooner.

"Cheteshwar and I have been playing since long, we know how to handle pressure, how to handle certain situations. Whatever we can't control, we are not thinking about that," Rahane said.

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