Ajinkya Madhukar Rahane (born 6 June 1988) is a former Indian professional cricketer and also captained the India national cricket team in all three formats. He formerly played for and captained Mumbai in domestic cricket. He played primarily as a middle-order batsman in the Test format and as a top-order batsman in white-ball forms of the game. India lost only one match under his captaincy.
Rahane made his first-class debut in 2007–08 Ranji Trophy season for Mumbai. He made his international debut in a Twenty20 International against England at Manchester in August 2011Ajinkya Rahane | India Cricket | Cricket Players and Officials. ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved on 2013-12-23. and his Test debut in March 2013 against Australia. His first Test century came at the Basin Reserve, Wellington against New Zealand. Under his captaincy, India won the 2020-21 Border–Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.
On 30 July 2026, Rahane announced his retirement from all forms of professional cricket.
Early and personal life
Ajinkya Madhukar Rahane was born on 6 June 1988 in Ashwi Khurd, Maharashtra, to Madhukar Baburao Rahane and Sujata Rahane. His ancestral village is Chandanapuri in Sangamner taluka of Ahmednagar district. He has a younger brother and sister, Shashank and Apurva Rahane. At the age of seven, Madhukar Rahane took Rahane to a small coaching camp with a matting wicket in Dombivli, as they could not afford proper coaching. From the age of 17, he took coaching from former India batsman Pravin Amre. Ajinkya bats and bowls off break with his right hand but uses his left hand to write. Rahane cleared his Secondary School Certificate from SV Joshi High School, Dombivli.
Rahane married Radhika Dhopavkar, his childhood friend, on 26 September 2014. The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Aarya, on 4 October 2019. Their second child, boy Raghav, was born on 5 October 2022.
Domestic career Rahane had performed well when India U-19 toured New Zealand in early 2007, with two centuries. He was picked for the Mohammad Nissar Trophy in Pakistan.
First-class career Rahane made his first-class debut, at the age of 19, for Mumbai against Karachi Urban in the Mohammad Nissar Trophy in September 2007, at Karachi, when most of the first-choice Mumbai players were unavailable for various reasons. Opening the innings with Sahil Kukreja, he scored a century on debut 143 (207), with Kukreja scoring 110 for a total of 247. Rahane was subsequently picked for the Irani Trophy match against Rest of India.
Rahane scored 172 against England Lions for West Zone in the 2007–08 Duleep Trophy.
Rahane, with 1089 runs in his second Ranji season (2008–09), was a crucial factor in Mumbai's 38th title win. His score of 265 not-out (batting at no. 3 for Mumbai) came against Hyderabad at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal in the 2009–10 season and also tournament. Rahane surpassed 1000 runs in three separate seasons, and scoring 152 in the 2011 Irani Trophy match against Rajasthan helped him get selected for India's Test squad.
In April 2019, Rahane joined Hampshire as their overseas player for two months of the season.
List A career Rahane made his List A debut for Mumbai against Delhi for the Vijay Hazare Trophy in March 2007. He contributed 61 runs to a 171-run partnership with former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer.
Rahane progressed through the Mumbai ranks and had also been a part of the Indian U-19 team and the India A. Rahane had also turned out for India Blue and India Green in the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy.
In September 2018, Rahane was named as the captain of Mumbai for the 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy tournament. In October 2018, he was named as the captain of India C's squad for the 2018–19 Deodhar Trophy. He led the team to the final and played a crucial knock of 144* in the final to win the title.
In the 2023–24 season, Rahane led Mumbai team for Ranaji Trophy to victory. In the finals, Mumbai defeated Vidarbha by 169 runs. He scored 7 and 73 in this match. His personal form remained poor in this tournament.
International career
Test career Rahane was selected in the Test squad to play against West Indies in November 2011. Rahane was taken in the squad for 16 months and in his presence, he saw seven players make their debuts. His performance in the limited-overs cricket (ODI and T20I) during that period was not up to the mark, as he averaged around 25 in both ODI and T20I cricket, and struggled for form in the series against Pakistan and England (in January 2013).
Rahane made his Test debut on 22 March 2013 against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. Rahane was handed his India Test cap which brought an end to a lean patch for Mumbai, who had not produced a Test player for India since May 2007. Two single-digit scores in the game prompted many to question Rahane's ability to handle pressure and replicate his domestic success at international level.
Despite his failure in the debut match, Rahane was included in the playing eleven for the first match of India's tour of South Africa (2013–14). Batting in the lower-middle order, he made 209 runs at an average of 69.66 in the series (including a 96 off 157 balls at Kingsmead, Durban) against the bowling attack comprising Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander. "For a man who had spent many a tour and series warming up the bench, carrying drinks, wondering when his opportunity will come, he has taken his chance with both hands, even though it arrived in the most difficult of conditions to bat in", cricket pundit Sidharth Monga wrote. Rahane finished as India's third-highest run-getter in the series, but he was in the most precarious position of all before the series began.
Rahane made his first Test ton at Basin Reserve, Wellington, New Zealand, on 15 February 2014 against New Zealand. India were in a difficult position when Rahane came to the crease at 156 for five and by the time he departed with 118 India were in a match-winning position ruined by Brendon McCullum's famous triple-century. "He had a mountain of first-class runs backing him, of course, but did he have what goes around by the queer name of X-factor? Did he have that extra edge in his game and personality that separates top-class international players from the rest? Was he merely humble, or was he unable to assert himself, unable to absorb real pressure? After his first two Test tours to South Africa and New Zealand, we can safely conclude it must be the former. Underneath that seemingly soft exterior lurks a solid Test batsman, and he was on display at the Basin Reserve", ESPNcricinfo wrote in their analysis.
Rahane played in the Investec Test Series (India tour of England, 2014) in England. His previous overseas performances (in away Tests, Rahane averaged 61.83 having scored 299 in four Tests including a century and two fifties) earned him a place in the playing eleven over Rohit Sharma. He justified his selection by making his second century at the second Test match at Lord's Cricket Ground. Put in to bat on a green-top wicket by Alastair Cook, India collapsed to 140 for six by tea, only to be rescued by Rahane's century. He was supported by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who scored a valuable 36, besides putting on 90 runs for the eighth wicket. In the process, Rahane became the fourth Indian batsman to post a Test century on his first appearance at Lord's, joining Sourav Ganguly, Dilip Vengsarkar and Ajit Agarkar.
Rahane played in the 2014–15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. In the third Test match at Melbourne, Rahane made his third Test hundred. He made 399 runs in four, including a century and two half-centuries against the opposition attack of Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris, the core of a bowling unit that famously won 2013–14 Ashes series 5–0.
In the first Test of 2015 tour of Sri Lanka, Rahane broke the world record for most catches in a Test match with eight. In the second Test at PSS, Colombo, he scored his fourth Test hundred, scoring 126 in India's second innings, and India went on to win the match. In the process, he reached his career-best ranking of 20th, at the ICC Player Rankings.
Rahane played in the 2015 Freedom Series. In the 4th test match at New Delhi, Rahane made centuries in both the innings on a pitch where most batsmen found it difficult to score, and with this feat, he became only the fifth Indian to join the elite club of twin centurions in a single test.
On 16 August 2016, Rahane achieved his career best test batsmen's ranking of No. 8.
On 25 March 2017, Rahane became India's 33rd Test Captain when he led the team in the 4th test against Australia in Dharamsala due to an injury to Virat Kohli. He scored 46 runs in his first innings and quick 37 Runs in 2nd innings as India's Test captain. He scored a century in Sri Lanka in August 2017. In the return series at home, he failed miserably scoring only 17 in 5 innings. Despite an overseas average of 55, he was not included in the playing 11 for the 1st and 2nd Test against South Africa in 2018. After the failures of Rohit Sharma in both tests, the Indian vice-captain was brought back into the playing eleven for the 3rd test where his innings of 48 in the 2nd innings on a dangerous batting pitch proved very crucial in setting up an Indian victory. He led the Indian Team in the test match against Afghanistan national cricket team in the absence of Virat Kohli in 2018. In the India's tour of England, Rahane scored two half centuries, a match winning 81 in the third test and 51 in the fourth test. In the following India's tour of Australia, Rahane scored two half centuries; a match-winning 70 in the Adelaide test and a 51 in the Perth test. Overall, he finished the series with 217 runs.
In 2019 two Match series in West Indies, he scored a century in the First Test to guide India to victory. In the home series against South Africa, he scored a brisk fifty in second Test in Pune sharing a crucial century partnership with skipper Virat Kohli. In the third Test, he scored a match winning 115 with a 267 run partnership with Rohit Sharma who scored his first double century in Tests rescuing the team from 39 for 3.
On 15 November 2019, in the first innings of the first test match against Bangladesh, Rahane hit 86 off 172 deliveries, crossing the boundary 9 times. This became his 21st test fifty in international cricket.
He was selected in the Test eleven for a 2 match series against New Zealand in February 2020, but like the rest of the team, his batting performance was not up to the mark.
In December 2020 he was made captain of the Indian team for the final three matches of India's tour of Australia in place of Virat Kohli, who was taking paternity leave. In the second test, Rahane scored 112 in the first innings and 27* in the second innings and guided India to a 8 wicket victory and was awarded man of the match. After drawing the third test at Sydney, India went on to win the fourth test in Brisbane and handed Australia their first Test defeat at The Gabba in 32 years with Rahane contributing to the winning cause with a quick fire 24 runs off 22 balls in the second innings and India winning the series 2–1. He finished the series as the third highest run getter with 268 runs at an average of 38.28. He received high praise from the critics and pundits for his captaincy and leading India to one of their greatest Test series win despite losing out on many of the first team players due to injury and bouncing back strongly after the first Test defeat.
Rahane was appointed as the captain of the Indian team for the first Test against New Zealand in November 2021, as Kohli had been rested. Rahane has captained in 6 Tests, out of which 4 won and 2 drawn. In the second test against New Zealand, he was dropped from India playing 11 due to a hamstring injury.