New Delhi, Jan 17 (IANS) Veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane will not take part in Mumbai’s remaining two Ranji Trophy matches. Mumbai will play against Hyderabad from January 22 to 25, before their final league-phase match against Delhi at the MCA-BKC ground from January 29 to February 1.
Rahane reportedly informed the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) that he won’t be taking part in the remainder of the red-ball season due to “personal reasons”.
“We will be picking the Mumbai team for their second stage of league game, Rahane won’t be taking part as he has informed MCA that he won’t be available for the remaining two red ball games,” a source was quoted in an Indian Express report.
Ahead of the 2025-26 domestic season, Rahane relinquished the Mumbai captaincy, saying, “I believe it’s the right time to groom a new leader.” MCA then appointed India all-rounder Shardul Thakur as the new captain of the 42-time Ranji champions.
Under Rahane’s captaincy, Mumbai won the Ranji Trophy in the 2023-24 season, ending a seven-year drought for the championship. They also reached the Ranji Trophy semifinals last season, where they lost to Vidharbha by 90 runs. Under his leadership, Mumbai also won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last season, with Rahane as the tournament’s highest run-scorer, and clinched the Irani Trophy in 2024-25.
Rahane is second on the all-time run-scorers list for Mumbai in first-class cricket, with 6141 runs in 80 matches at an average of 57.18 between 2007 and 2025, only behind former India opener Wasim Jaffer (8,178 runs from 1997-2015). He has also scored 19 centuries for Mumbai in first-class cricket, second only to Jaffer’s 29.
In his domestic career, Rahane has played 205 first-class matches, 192 List A matches, and 284 T20 matches. During this time, he has scored 14,209 runs in 346 first-class innings at an average of 44.96, 6,853 runs in 187 List A innings at an average of 39.84, and 7,242 runs in 267 T20 innings at an average of 29.92.
–IANS
bc/vi
