The Ajit Agarkar-headed selection committee recently announced four squads for the Duleep Trophy. The selectors chose the best 60 players but there was no place for Ajinkya Rahane. It was a clear indication that the selection committee has now moved on from him and that his India career is over. But Rahane is still aiming for a comeback.
Ignored for the Duleep Trophy, Rahane is proving his mettle in county cricket. The former India vice-captain is playing for Leicestershire in the county season. The right-handed batsman has slammed a century for Leicestershire against Glamorgan.
Rahane arrived at the crease after his team lost the second wicket at a score of 37. His partner, Ian Holland departed for 27. Rahane and Australia batsman, Peter Handscomb rescued Leicestershire by adding 183 runs for the fourth wicket.
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Rahane departed for 102 off 192 balls while Handscomb also breached the 100-run mark. He is still batting along with Louis Kimber. Leicestershire have to bat for the whole day to avoid a defeat.
Ajinkya Rahane out of Team India
Ajinkya Rahane has been out of Team India for over a year now. He was first dropped from the Test squad after the series against South Africa early in 2022. Rahane made his return for the World Test Championship final in 2023 and retained his spot for the West Indies series that followed.
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Rahane's below-par performance saw the selectors dropping him and he has been away from the Test team since then. The selectors decided against recalling Rahane or Cheteshwar Pujara even when Team India needed replacement players during the home series against England earlier in 2024.
Rahane played his last ODI in 2018 while he has been out of the T20I squad since 2016. Rahane's success with the bat saw him join the leadership group and he captained India in all three formats on a stand-in basis. Under him, India famously won the 2020/21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under.