Ajinkya Rahane to become next KKR captain? Mumbai batter makes strong case with blazing knock in SMAT quarter-final against Vidarbha

Mumbai have advanced to the semi-final of the ongoing edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2024–25 with the help of a blazing knock from veteran Indian batter Ajinkya Rahane in the quarter-final match against Vidarbha at the KSCA Cricket Ground in Alur, on December 11 (Wednesday). Rahane played a match-winning knock of 84 runs while chasing 222 and received the Player of the Match award for his stunning performance.

Mumbai beat Vidarbha by 6 wickets

Karun Nair (26 runs off 15) and Atharva Taide (66 runs off 41 balls) joined a 60-run opening stand and gave Vidarbha a good start. Later, Taide joined an 81-run partnership with Apoorv Wankhede (51 runs off 33 balls). Both of them smashed fifites and ensured the team reached a good total. The reamining was done by Shubham Dubey who played an unbeaten knock of 43 runs off 19 balls and took Vidarbha's score to 221/6.

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In reply, Prithvi Shaw (49 off 26 balls) and Ajinkya Rahane (84 off 45 balls) went all guns blazing and joined a crucial 83-run partnership. After Shaw departed after playing a good knock, Mumbai also lost the wickets of Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav quickly. However, Rahane kept on progressing to the scoreboard. After the veteran got out, the remaining was done by Shivam Dube and Suryansh Shedge. Both of them played crucial cameos and took their team over the line, especially, Shedge who smashed 36 runs off just 12 balls with a strike rate of 300.

Rahane one of KKR's captaincy candidate

After a dismal run in 2022, Rahane is all set for his second run with the Kolkata-based franchise. Rahane became a part of the Chennai Super Kings camp which gave a revival to his career in the renowned league. He scored 568 runs for Chennai in 27 matches during the 2023 and 2024 editions. The highlight run of which came in the year 2023, where he smashed 326 runs in 11 innings with a strike rate of 172.48.

He has made a return to the KKR camp after being bought by the franchise for Rs 1.5 crores in the IPL 2025 mega auction. He is even one of the top candidates to lead KKR in the next season. Rahane also holds IPL captaincy experience and has led Rajasthan Royals and Rising Pune Supergiants in the past. He has also been the captain of Mumbai's T20 side for over 13 years and a remarkable leader for them inthe Ranji Trophy.