Focussed on 'process': West Zone captain Ajinkya Rahane starts comeback fight with Duleep Trophy

Ajinkya Rahane will not deviate from his "process driven" methods as he gears up to lead a star-studded West Zone against minnows North East in the opening Duleep Trophy game starting Thursday. The Indian domestic cricket season starts with revival of Duleep Trophy, back in its zonal format as two quarterfinal matches kick off proceedings. There couldn't have been a bigger mismatch between the two sides as West boasts of a batting line-up with names like skipper Rahane, the marauding Prithvi Shaw, talented Yashashvi Jaiswal, KKR captain Shreyas Iyer and Rahul Tripathi, who as recently as tour of Zimbabwe was with the Indian team.

But focus will be on Rahane, who will certainly make a last ditch attempt to get back into the Test team after being dropped earlier this year after two years of barren run. "See, I believe in following my processes. Right now, my focus is on the Duleep Trophy and doing well for the West zone team and we will see what happens in future,' Rahane said on the eve of the match.

For him, it is about taking each match as it comes. "Playing one game at a time...Coming back after injury, the focus is on what is in hand rather than the future. Looking forward to doing well," he said in response to a question if he saw it as the first opportunity towards working for the comeback.

He said it was good that Duleep Trophy had returned to the zonal format and said it provided opportunity to domestic players. "When I played (Duleep Trophy) last time in 2009-2010, it was in zonal format. When you play zonal (format), a lot of players get an opportunity.