Ajinkya Rahane 2.0 continues to impress. Dropped from the India cricket team in 2023, the veteran batter has reinvented himself. Seen as a red-ball player, Rahane has transformed himself in white-ball cricket in the last two years. This change has specifically been seen in T20s.
Ajinkya Rahane on song in IPL 2025
He was on fire in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024-25 and regained his T20 form in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. Despite going unsold in the first round of the mega auction and getting just Rs 1.50 crore in the end, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) decided to make him their captain.
Five matches into the IPL 2025 season, Rahane has already repaid them. 56, 18, 11, 38, and 61 are his scores so far this season. Rahane is very much in the orange cap race right now, and no other KKR batter is close to him at the best. He is their best batter. Dare I say, Rahane has continued to do what Shreyas Iyer was able to do last season.
Against the Lucknow Super Giants, while chasing a mammoth score of 239 at the Eden Gardens, Rahane scored his second fifty of the IPL 2025 season. His strike rate isn’t shabby either. However, there is something even bigger in play for him. That’s a spot in India’s Test team for the tour of England.
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Eyeing Test return for India
For those who have forgotten, Rahane was taken to England for the World Test Championship Final 2023 against Australia. The batter for Mumbai had done well in the Ranji Trophy 2022-23 season prior. But what really sold the selectors was his performance for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL 2023 season.
If he’s going to have a similar performance, the selectors might just pick him. India doesn’t really have a solid contender to bat at number five in Tests. Rishabh Pant has been tried there, but he’s much suited to bat at six. If Rahane continues to perform like this for KKR, he might book his sight for the flight to England before the IPL 2025 season ends.
“I am really enjoying my cricket at the moment. Firstly, playing for KKR and playing at Eden, I am really enjoying. For me it is about staying in the moment and enjoying my cricket and my batting. I don’t want to think far ahead. We have a job in hand,” Rahane said on his potential Test return after his 61-run knock.
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