'Rahane has really grown as a cricketer and as a person'

Chennai: Former India captain Rahul Dravid lavished praise on Ajinkya Rahane, saying that he wasn't surprised when the latter was appointed as the stand-in-skipper for the Zimbabwe tour.

"I wasn't surprised. Rahane has really grown as a cricketer and as a person over the last two and three years I have seen him. The success he has had with the Test cricket has done a lot for him as a person," said Dravid, who mentored Rahane during their IPL stint at Rajasthan Royals.

The 42-year-old batting great said that although Rahane had a few glitches in the limited over cricket, the selectors showed their confidence in him.

"Rahane is really showing the capabilities of being an important player for India over the next decade. So, it was a nice pat on the back from the selectors," added Dravid, who captained India in 20 Tests and 62 ODIs.

Rahane led the second string Indian side to a 3-0 ODI series win against Zimbabwe, and won the first T20 international by 54 runs on Friday at Harare.