After more than three years away from the national squad, former India captain Ajinkya Rahane has said goodbye to international cricket. During the Test tour of the West Indies in July 2023, he made his final appearance for India. Yashasvi Jaiswal made his international debut in this same series.
Rahane announced his immediate retirement from all international cricket formats in a video released on his official Instagram account. The right-handed hitter represented the Men in Blue in 85 Test matches, 90 ODIs, and 20 T20Is. In all three formats, he scored 5077, 2962, and 375 runs, respectively. In international cricket, the 38-year-old concluded with 15 hundreds and 51 fifties.
View this post on Instagram
Ajinkya Rahane was a member of India’s team that competed in the 2014 T20 World Cup, the 2015 ODI World Cup, the 2016 T20 World Cup, and the 2017 Champions Trophy, even though his best international cricket performances occurred in the longest format. In 2021 and 2023, respectively, the Mumbai batsman participated in the World Test Championship’s first two finals.
In the 2020–21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Rahane will be remembered with fondness for leading India to a Test series against Australia. Following their tragic dismissal for 36 runs in the second innings of the first Test in Adelaide, India was completely defeated. The game’s normal captain, Virat Kohli, took paternity leave.
Ajinkya Rahane, who scored the game-winning century at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the second Test, assumed leadership of a youthful Indian side. In Test cricket, he captained India six times. The Asian powerhouses drew two games and won four.
Ajinkya Rahane is the Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) current captain.
In the last two IPL seasons, he has guided the three-time winners. For the next season, the Knights are reportedly interested in trading in Hardik Pandya from the Mumbai Indians. The Baroda all-rounder might take Rahane’s role as captain if he joins KKR.
