Ajinkya Madhukar Rahane (born 6 June 1988) is an Indian cricketer and former captain and former vice-captain of Indian team in test format, who has played for Indian cricket team in all formats as a batsman.
He currently captains Mumbai in Ranji trophy and plays for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL.
Rahane plays primarily as a middle-order batsman in the Test format and as a top-order batsman in white-ball forms of the game.
India lost only 1 match under his captaincy.
Rahane was born on 6 June 1988 in Ashwi KD, Sangamner Taluka, Ahmednagar district to Madhukar Baburao Rahane and Sujata Rahane.
He has a younger brother and sister, Shashank and Apurva Rahane.
At the age of seven, Madhukar Rahane took Rahane 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.
Rahane cleared his Secondary School Certificate from SV Joshi High School, Dombivli.
2007
Rahane made his first-class debut in 2007–08 Ranji Trophy season for Mumbai.
Rahane had performed well when India U-19 toured New Zealand in early 2007, with two centuries.
He was picked for the Mohammad Nissar Trophy in Pakistan.
Rahane made his first-class debut, at the age of 19, for Mumbai against Karachi Urban in the Mohammad Nissar Trophy in September 2007, at Karachi, when most of the first-choice Mumbai players were unavailable for various reasons.
Opening the innings with Sahil Kukreja, he scored a century on debut 143 (207), with Kukreja scoring 110 for a total of 247.
Rahane was subsequently picked for the Irani Trophy match against Rest of India.
Rahane scored 172 against England Lions for West Zone in the 2007–08 Duleep Trophy.
Rahane, with 1089 runs in his second Ranji season (2008–09), was a crucial factor in Mumbai's 38th title win.
Rahane made his List A debut for Mumbai against Delhi for the Vijay Hazare Trophy in March 2007.
He contributed 61 runs to a 171-run partnership with former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer.
2009
His score of 265 not-out (batting at no. 3 for Mumbai) came against Hyderabad at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal in the 2009–10 season and also tournament.
Rahane surpassed 1000 runs in three separate seasons, and scoring 152 in the 2011 Irani Trophy match against Rajasthan helped him get selected for India's Test squad.
2011
He made his international debut in T20Is against England at Manchester in August 2011.
Two centuries back to back in the Emerging Players Tournament in Australia brought him a place in the India ODI (One Day International) squad for the tour of England in 2011.
Rahane progressed through the Mumbai ranks and had also been a part of the Indian U-19 team and the India A.
Rahane had also turned out for India Blue and India Green in the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy.
Rahane was selected in the Test squad to play against West Indies in November 2011.
Rahane was taken in the squad for 16 months and in his presence, he saw seven players make their debuts.
2013
Rahane made his Test debut in the March 2013 Border–Gavaskar Trophy.
His first Test century came at Basin Reserve, Wellington against New Zealand.
2014
Rahane married Radhika Dhopavkar, his childhood friend, on 26 September 2014.
2018
In September 2018, Rahane was named as the captain of Mumbai for the 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy tournament.
In October 2018, he was named as the captain of India C's squad for the 2018–19 Deodhar Trophy.
He led the team to the final and played a crucial knock of 144* in the final to win the title.
2019
The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Aarya, on 4 October 2019.
Their second child, boy Raghav, was born on 5 October 2022.
In April 2019, Rahane joined Hampshire as their overseas player for two months of the season.
2020
Under his captaincy, India won the 2020-21 Border–Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.
As of May 2021 Rahane ranks 27th in the ICC Test batting rankings, with a tally of 612 points.
He was awarded a Grade B contract by the BCCI in March 2022.
Rahane has been one of India's best overseas players, scoring over 3000 runs away from home at an average over 40.
