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Ajinkya Rahane
India batter Ajinkya Rahane has proposed radical changes in the appointment of selectors, particularly at the domestic level, saying only recently retired first-class players should be entrusted with picking teams as they are more likely to keep pace with changing nature of the game. Currently, any cricketer with 10-match first-class experience can apply for being a state selector and should have retired at least five years ago. Beyond the set parameters, Rahane said it's important that selectors' mindset and approach match the current pace of cricket. "Players should not be scared of selectors. I want to talk about selectors, especially in domestic cricket. We should have selectors who have retired recently from playing top-flight cricket, those who have retired five-six years, seven-eight years ago," Rahane said during an interaction with one-time teammate Cheteshwar Pujara on the former's Youtube channel. "Because the way cricket is evolving, I think it's very important that the
Veteran India batter Ajinkya Rahane on Thursday stepped down from his position as Mumbai captain ahead of the upcoming Ranji Trophy season, saying it is the right time to groom a new leader. The 37-year-old, who has amassed 14000 runs in 201 first-class matches, however, will continue to play as a batter in the team. The Ranji season begins on October 15 and Mumbai will be up against Jammu and Kashmir in their opening game. "Captaining and winning the championships with the Mumbai team has been an absolute honour," Rahane wrote on his 'X' account. "With the new domestic season ahead, I believe it is the right time to groom a new leader, and hence, I have decided not to continue in the captaincy role. "I remain fully committed to giving my best as a player, and will continue my journey with MCA to help us win more trophies, looking forward to the season," he added. Under his captaincy, Mumbai clinched the Ranji Trophy title in the 202324 season with a victory over Vidarbha in the .
Seasoned India batter Ajinkya Rahane compiled his 40th First-Class century -- a marvellous 192-ball 102 -- as Leicestershire battled hard to avoid defeat against Glamorgan in their County Championship Division Two match here on Sunday. Rahane, a veteran of 85 Tests and 90 ODIs, struck 13 fours and a six during his stay in the middle and was also involved in a vital stand of 183 runs for the fourth wicket with Australian Peter Handscomb, who was batting on 94 at lunch on the final day of the four-day game. Leicestershire's international pair Rahane and Handscomb got together with an aim to save the game for them after Glamorgan's Colin Ingram had crafted a career-best, unbeaten 257 at Sofia Gardens. At stumps on the third evening, Rahane was 47 not out and Handscomb unbeaten on 33, as Leicestershire ended at 144 for 3, trailing by 155, when bad light stopped play with 21.2 scheduled overs remaining. At the lunch, Leicestershire were 271 for four and needing another 28 runs to make .
Mumbai captain Ajinkya Rahane on Friday backed Shreyas Iyer to put the contractual turmoil behind him and deliver a punchy performance for the team in the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Tamil Nadu, beginning here on Saturday. Shreyas along with Jharkhand's Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual central contracts after both the players skipped the Ranji matches of their respective teams in violation of BCCI's diktat. Shreyas sat out of Mumbai's quarterfinal against Baroda here while complaining of back pain. He's an experienced player. His contribution has been amazing whenever he turned up for Mumbai. We are thrilled to have him in our team for the semifinal, Rahane told the media here at the BKC Ground. Rahane said Shreyas would not require any extra motivation to do well for Mumbai against TN. I don't think he needs any encouragement or advice. He has always contributed with the bat for Mumbai, and him being around other players in the dressing room will also help the .
Ajinkya Rahane has not given up on playing 100 Tests for India and remains determined for a comeback. Rahane last played for India on the tour of West Indies in July 2023. The 35-year-old, who has featured in 85 Tests, is captaining Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. "My goal is to secure both the Ranji Trophy and the bigger objective of playing in 100 Test matches," Rahane told reporters after Mumbai's second successive outright win in the competition. "I'm focused on performing well for Mumbai and taking each game one step at a time." Rahane could not open his account in what was his first game of the tournament. Talking about the team's start, he said: "It's been a very good start for us this season. The challenge is to be consistent because when you want to win the Ranji Trophy, it is all about being consistent throughout the period of time. "We are looking to take one game at a time. It's a home-away format so the conditions keep changing. We have to be in the moment, try and see
Senior India batter Ajinkya Rahane will not join English county side Leicestershire as planned earlier as he wants a break from cricket after hectic international engagements, the club said. The 35-year-old Rahane was to join the county club in June but his arrival was pushed back due to increased international commitments. He flew straight to England after the IPL for the World Test Championship final, before heading on India's Test tour of the West Indies this month. The club said with those involvements previously not factored into his schedule, Rahane has now expressed his desire to take a break from cricket during August and September, meaning he will not feature for Leicestershire as planned. "Firstly, we are fully understanding of Ajinkya's situation. He has experienced a hectic schedule in recent months, both in India and travelling with the national team, and we accept his wishes to recover and spend some time with his family," Director of Cricket Claude Henderson said in a
Ajinkya Rahane will be aiming to pile on the runs to extend his international career and lead India to a series sweep against a feeble West Indies when the second and final Test begins here on Thursday. The game will mark the 100th Test between the two teams and though India skipper Rohit Sharma said it will be a big occasion, his team will be expected to dominate the West Indies like it did in the series opener in Dominica. After the game at the Queen's Park Oval, India play their next Test only on the tour of South Africa in December-January, leaving the likes of Rahane one more opportunity to make it extremely hard for selectors to overlook him for the away series against the Proteas. In his first Test in 18 months, which happened to be the World Test Championships final last month, Rahane was the stand out India batter but he would be ruing the missed opportunity on a slow and turning pitch in Dominica where the visitors needed to bat only once. There is a strong chance that .
India skipper Rohit Sharma gives a lot of freedom to his players and has all the traits of a great captain, said Ajinkya Rahane ahead of the two-Test series against West Indies starting here on Wednesday. Rahane made a comeback to red-ball cricket after a gap of 18 months when he was included in the World Test Championships final against Australia last month. A veteran of 83 Test matches, Rahane, who was deputy to former skipper Virat Kohli in the past, has been named the India vice-captain for the West Indies series. "I am used to this role. I was vice-captain for almost four-five years. I am really happy to be back in the team and really happy to be back as a vice-captain," Rahane told reporters on Monday. "WTC final was the first game where I played under Rohit Sharma's captaincy. Rohit gives freedom to all the players and those are good traits of a great captain," said Rahane, who had led India to the famous Test series win in Australia in 2019-2020. "What do you mean by at th
India's comeback man Ajinkya Rahane on Wednesday climbed to the 37th position while Shardul Thakur rose to 94th among batters, even as Ravichandran Ashwin maintained his top spot among Test bowlers despite not featuring in the World Test Championship final. In a rare achievement, batters from Australia occupy the top three places in the rankings as Steve Smith and Travis Head joined top-ranked Marnus Labuschagne following their centuries in the WTC final win against India at The Oval. Despite India's 209-run loss in the marquee match, Rahane's scores of 89 and 46 helped him return to the rankings chart in 37th position while Shardul, who scored a half-century in the first innings, moved up six places. Dashing wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant, who is recovering following a car accident, remains the highest-ranked Indian at number 10 while skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are static on 12th and 13th spots respectively. Veteran off-spinner Ashwin continued to be the top-ranked Tes