India’s Test specialist Ajinkya Rahane will be taking part in the county side in division two for Leicestershire after playing the two Test matches for the Indian team against the West Indies. Rahane who was the former India vice-captain made a comeback in India’s Test side during the World Test Championship final against Australia earlier this month.
The Mumbai-based batter cracked the deal back in January with Leicestershire and was supposed to take part in eight first-class games alongside the whole of the Royal London Cup (domestic 50-over competition) between June to September. But then, the plan did not work out well as he had to join the Indian Test team and hence he could not play for his county side immediately after the IPL was over.
“Ajinkya, after the two Tests in West Indies (which is supposed to end on July 24), is supposed to fly directly to England and join Leicestershire for the remainder of the season. He will play Royal London Cup in August and a possible four County games in September as he is unlikely to be a part of white-ball scheme of things,” a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
This is not the first time that Rahane will play county cricket as he had already played for Hampshire in the 2019 season after getting dropped from the 50-over World Cup side. During the recently passed WTC 2023 final, Rahane was the only player who made a mark by scoring 89 during India’s first innings and also reached 5,000 runs in the traditional format in 83 Tests. Because of this terrific batting in the WTC 2023 final, Rahane got a huge jump in the latest ICC Test Rankings as he sealed the 37th spot. India’s stalwarts like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have acquired the 12th and 13th spots respectively.