Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Madhukar Rahane, born on 6th June 1988, is an Indian cricketer and the former captain and vice-captain of the Indian team during his Test cricket career. He has represented India in all formats of the sport and currently plays for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL and captains Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy.

Being brought up in the playing grounds of Mumbai—India’s factory for churning International Cricketers, Ajinkya Rahane has had a steady ascent at the top. With his rock-steady technique and soft demeanour, the Mumbai batsman has carved a unique identity of his own.

Former Australian captain Steve Waugh has compared Rahane to the batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar due to his compact technique, range of shots and temperament.

Ajinkya Rahane: Along the Years

Ajinkya Rahane Records

• 5th Indian Batsman to score centuries in each innings of a Test

• Highest number of catches by a non wicketkeeper in a single Test match (8)

• 9th Indian player to win the first test match as a captain.

• 3rd Indian batsman to score a century on County Debut after Piyush Chawla and Murali Vijay.

• 1st Indian 'Player of the Match' of the World Test Championship.

• 1st Indian to score century in World Test Championship.

• Rahane became the fourth Indian batsman to post a Test century on his first appearance at Lord's

• Ajinkya Rahane is the first cricketer to grab eight catches in a single Test match, setting a new world record.

• Led the Indian Test team to victory against Australia in Gabba, breaking their streak of 32 year win record in Gabba.

• Scored the joint-second fastest half century for CSK in 2023.

Ajinkya Rahane Awards and Accolades

• M A Chidambaram Trophy for best Under-19 cricketer: 2006–07

• Named in Cricinfo CLT20 XI in 2013

• CEAT Indian Cricketer of the Year: 2014–15

• Named in Cricinfo IPL XI in 2015

• Arjuna Award in 2016

Ajinkya Rahane Career

Mumbai's Ajinkya Rahane is a right-handed top-order batsman who offers the ideal balance of skill, reliability, and aggressiveness. In 2007, he made his Mumbai First-Class debut. August 2011 saw him play his first T20I match against England in Manchester. In the Border–Gavaskar Trophy in March 2013, Rahane made his Test debut. He scored his first century in a Test match against New Zealand at Basin Reserve in Wellington.

Ajinkya Rahane Domestic Career

Rahane started playing Cricket at the age of 7 when his father took him to a coaching camp in Dombivli. At 17, he was coached by Pravin Amre. He played a U19 match representing India against New Zealand before getting selected to play in the Mohammad Nissar Trophy in Karachi.

He made his first-class debut for Mumbai at 19 while playing against Karachi Urban in September 2007. He scored 143 on his debut match which made him get selected for the Irani Trophy match against Rest of India.

He made his Ranji Trophy debut for Mumbai in 2007-08 season. He performed impressively well and got selected to play in Duleep Trophy representing West Zone. In the second season, he piled up over a 1000 runs which helped Mumbai win its 38th Ranji Title. He notched up his highest first-class score of 265 not out against Hyderabad in the next season. After scoring 1000 runs in the 2010-11 season, he succeeded in scoring 1000 runs in 3 consecutive seasons.

After being in and out of the Indian side, Rahane came back in the domestic circuit but his form saw a bit of a dip during the Ranji Trophy season of 2017/18, as Mumbai uncharacteristically failed to get past the quarter-final stages and Rahane got his first duck in Ranji cricket since 2008.

Also see - Jasprit Bumrah Biography

Ajinkya Rahane IPL Career

In the initial years, Ajinkya Rahane played for his native franchise, the Mumbai Indians. As he was a rookie uncapped player at that point, not many opportunities arrived and it was not until his shift to Rajasthan Royals that Rahane started to show consistency in the IPL.

He has played for Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals and Rising Pune Supergiant in the IPL. With very limited opportunities in Mumbai he moved to Rajasthan in 2012 and scored a match-winning 98 in the season’s first match.

The 2012 season was his breakthrough year in the tournament, amassing over 550 runs at a healthy strike rate, including his maiden IPL century. In fact, the years 2012-16 saw Rahane cementing his position as one of the most consistent performers in the tournament’s history.

His tenure with Rising Pune Supergiants was bit topsy-turvy but he managed to provide good starts to the franchise and after RPS got defunct, Rahane was snapped back by Rajasthan Royals.

Rahane was bought back by the Rajasthan Royals in 2018 for a whopping Rs 4 crore via a Right-to-Match card. In the 2018 season, Rahane led the Rajasthan Royals. Rahane's performance in the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL) was remarkable as it had many effective innings for Rajasthan. He also smashed a century against the Delhi Capitals, making him the team's top run scorer for that season. Ahead of the 2020 Indian Premier League, Rahane was traded from the Rajasthan Royals to the Delhi Capitals in November 2019. He was retained by the team for the 2021 Indian Premier League. He was later acquired by the Kolkata Knight Riders in February 2022 for the 2022 Indian Premier League season.

The Chennai Super Kings purchased him for INR 50 Lakh for the 2023 season. Rahane, who played at number three in the 2023 IPL, proved to be a key member of the champion CSK squad, smashing at an incredible strike rate of 175+ in that season. This was Rahane's maiden Indian Premier League title.

Ajinkya Rahane International Career

Rahane debuted for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy season of 2007–08. In August 2011, he made his international debut in a T20I against England in Manchester. Rahane debuted in Test cricket in the Border–Gavaskar Trophy in March 2013. At Wellington's Basin Reserve, he scored his first century in a Test match against New Zealand.

Ajinkya Rahane ODI Career

He made his ODI debut against England in Chester-le-Street where he scored 40 runs at a strike rate of 90. He performed well in that series and subsequent return series in which he scored his debut 50. He failed to perform well in the following series against West Indies, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Despite being a vital cog in the Test line-up, Rahane continues to go in and out of the ODI side. He did, however, do well enough to be given a ticket to the 2015 World Cup in Australia, where he performed admirably in the middle-order, playing a vital knock of 79 against South Africa.

He was overlooked for the 2019 World Cup squad that went to England. Despite India's number 4 batting problems and Rahane's excellent record in England, the selectors gave him the side-eye. His exclusion drew the wrath of a lot of cricket pundits as ultimately India paid the price of a fragile middle-order in the Semi-finals.

Ajinkya Rahane Test Career

Following the retirement of stalwarts like VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid, the Indian selectors started the process of blooding the youngsters for the big stage. After a year in and out of the team, and 16 months on the bench, an injury to Shikhar Dhawan finally got Rahane the most desirable piece of attire in Indian cricket – Test cap number 278.

Rahane played in the Investec Test Series (India tour of England, 2014) in England and instantly made an impression. He hit a magnificent century on his first appearance at the Lord's and went up the honours board. Rahane's century ensured that India won at Lord's after a long wait of 28 years.

In December 2020, Rahane was appointed as the captain of the Indian cricket team for the final three matches of India's tour of Australia, replacing Virat Kohli who took paternity leave. In the second test match, Rahane scored 112 runs in the first innings and an unbeaten 27 in the second innings, leading India to an 8 wicket victory. He was awarded the player of the match for his performance. After drawing the third test in Sydney, India went on to win the fourth test in Brisbane, handing Australia their first test defeat at The Gabba in 32 years. Rahane contributed to this historic win by scoring a quick 24 runs off just 22 balls in the second innings. Under Rahane's captaincy, India won the test series 2-1.

He received high praise from critics and pundits for his captaincy and leading India to one of their greatest Test series wins despite missing out on many first team players due to injury and recovering strongly after the first Test defeat. He ended the series as the third highest run getter with 268 runs at an average of 38.28.

Ajinkya Rahane T20I Career

In August 2011, Rahane made his debut for the Indian national team at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester at a T20 International match against England. He scored a half-century in the match. Rahul Dravid's only T20I appearance came in that match.

Rahane was a part of the Indian team that reached the final of the 2014 World T20. He played against Australia after missing the first three games, and he scored 19 runs. With 32 runs in the semi-final, he gave India a strong start and helped them win the game. Additionally, he led India in two T20 International matches.

Ajinkya Rahane Captaincy

In 2015, he was appointed as the captain for ODI and T20’s for the tour of Zimbabwe.

In March 2017, he captained the Indian Test team in the 4th Test against Australia as Virat Kohli was injured. India won that match by eight wickets to regain the Border-Gavaskar trophy.

Rahane was named the Indian cricket team's captain for the last three games of India's tour of Australia in December 2020. Rahane led India to an 8-wicket victory in the second test match by scoring 112 runs in the first innings and an unbeaten 27 in the second. For his performance, he received the award for the player of the match. India defeated Australia in the fourth test in Brisbane, following a draw in the third test in Sydney. This was Australia's first test loss at The Gabba in thirty-two years. Rahane scored a rapid 24 runs off just 22 balls in the second innings, leading to this historic victory. India won 2-1 in the test series led by Rahane.

Ajinkya Rahane Under-19 Career

Rahane had made two centuries during the India U-19 tour of New Zealand early in 2007. In September 2007, Rahane made his first-class debut for Mumbai against Karachi Urban in the Mohammad Nissar Trophy in Karachi. He opened the innings with Sahil Kukreja, who hit 110 for a total of 247, and he scored a century on debut. In the 2007–08 Duleep Trophy, Rahane scored 172 runs for West Zone against the England Lions.

Ajinkya Rahane Family

Ajinkya Rahane was born in Ashwi KD, Ahmednagar district to Madhukar Baburao Rahane and Sujata Rahane. The family came from the village of Chandanapuri, Tal-Sangamner.[4] He has a younger brother and sister, Shashank and Apurva Rahane.[5] At the age of seven, Madhukar Rahane took Ajinkya 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 Rahane married his childhood sweetheart Radhika Dhopavkar in 2014 and they have a beautiful daughter together, born on 5 October 2019.

Ajinkya Rahane Net Worth

Ajinkya Rahane's net worth as of 2024 is estimated to be around INR 80 crore, or about USD 10 million. The majority of his income came from IPL matches, domestic circuits, brand sponsorships and endorsements. At the 2023 IPL auction, the Chennai Super Kings paid INR 50 lakh to sign Rahane. He was retained for the same amount ahead of the 2024 IPL season

Ajinkya Rahane House

Ajinkya Rahane lives in a lavish sea-facing apartment in Mumbai. Ajinkya's luxurious apartment has a fantastic view of the Arabian Sea from its balcony and is close to the famous Bandra-Worli sea link.

Ajinkya Rahane Cars

Rahane has a limited car collection. Among the notable vehicles are the Audi Q5 (INR 55 lakh), Range Rover (INR 85 lakh), Volvo EX60 (INR 68 lakh), and BMW. Rahane purchased a deluxe Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 SUV for INR 2.96 million on February 22, 2024.