Ajinkya Rahane

An elegant right-hand top-order batsman, Rahane rose to prominence in Ranji Trophy 2008/09, where he amassed 1089 runs and helped Mumbai to clinch their 38th Ranji title.

Rahane continued to pile up runs in the domestic circuit, and finally, the selectors decided to try him out in the T20I series against England in the year 2011. He scored a fluent 61 and became the first Indian batter to score a half-century on his T20I debut. He followed it up with a commanding 40 on his ODI debut, which showed Rahane’s technique, especially against the moving ball in England.

He had to wait two more years to make his Test debut. 

Rahane received his debut cap in the 4th Test match of the 2013 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and he had a match to forget, as the Mumbaikar could only manage 8 runs in two innings.

Rahane has proven to be India’s best batsman outside Asia, and it was proven in the 2013 away series against South Africa. India was tottering at 199 for 4 when Rahane walked out to bat in the middle and facing the fiery Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander, he scored a fluent 51 to rescue India’s sinking ship. Again in the second innings, Rahane came to India’s rescue with a majestic 96 in a lone effort. India went on to lose that Test match, but the team found a gem in the youngster.

After missing out on a maiden ton in South Africa, Rahane reached the milestone in the away series against New Zealand, where he played some exquisite shots in seaming conditions to impress everyone with his technique and composure.

Rahane was part of India’s squad for the 2014 T20 World Cup. He had an average tournament, amassing 54 runs in 3 innings as India reached the final of the tournament.

India’s toughest test came against England in the same year, and while all the other batsmen struggled against quality pace attack, it was Rahane to the rescue once again. On a typical green top at Lords, Rahane played the innings of his life, as the batter scored 103 against the likes of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad. His innings was crucial in the context of the game as the Men in Blue defeated the hosts in style.

After an impressive 81 on a seaming track at the Gabba, Rahane followed it up with a sublime 147 at the MCG. He shared a crucial 262-run partnership along with Virat Kohli.

In the first Test match against Sri Lanka in 2015, Rahane broke the world record of taking 8 catches in a single Test. He continued the rich vein of form in the next series against South Africa. In the fourth Test, Rahane scored centuries in both innings and became only the fifth Indian to score twin centuries in a single Test.

In 2017, Rahane became India’s 33rd Test captain, when he led the side in the absence of Virat Kohli, who was nursing an injury. 

Arguably Rahane’s crowning moment came in the 2020/21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He took over the captaincy from Virat Kohli, who had to go on paternity leave. India were 1-0 down in the series and in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, Rahane responded with a sublime century against good quality pace bowlers. After drawing the third Test and winning the historic fourth Test at the Gabba, India won the series 2-1 and a lot of credit went to how Rahane handled the newcomers in the team.

As far as his IPL career is concerned, Rahane stockpiled 393, 370, 382, 480, 540, 339, 488, 560, 120, 144 runs in the last ten IPL seasons. The overall runs tally show that he has been a consistent player for whichever team he played since 2012 but the fact that he does not come across as a flamboyant opening batsman going around nowadays, Rahane finds himself in a tough spot.

In the IPL 2020, Rahane was traded to the Delhi Capitals. He played 9 matches and scored a mere 113 runs at an average of 14. He has been retained by the franchise for the upcoming IPL season.

In the dressing room consisting of people filled with tattooed arms and hair gels, Rahane is a simple guy who knows his batting strengths and he plays according to them. Whenever India has been in trouble, especially in the SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) countries, Rahane has always come up with a rescue operation. He is India’s go-to man abroad and is arguably the most complete batsman in the post-Tendulkar era.

(As of March 2021)