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Following Cheteshwar Pujara's footsteps, Ajinkya Rahane has returned to county cricket in an attempt to revive his Test career. Rahane will represent Leicestershire in the upcoming season. He will join Leicestershire after the completion of Indian Premier League (IPL) where he will play for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and will be available for eight County matches followed by the One-Day Cup.
"I'm really happy to be joining Leicestershire for the upcoming season. I can’t wait to play alongside my new teammates and explore the vibrant city of Leicester," Rahane said in a video posted by Leicestershire on Twitter.
"I’m extremely excited to welcome Ajinkya to Leicestershire. He comes with a lot of experience and a tremendous work ethic. It’s a great opportunity for us to tap into that."
Rahane had played for Hampshire in 2019 season when he scored a century on County debut against Nottinghamshire.
"I’m extremely excited to welcome Ajinkya to Leicestershire. He comes with a lot of experience and a tremendous work ethic. It’s a great opportunity for us to tap into that," Director of Cricket, Claude Henderson said.
"I had conversations with (Assistant Coach) Alfonso Thomas and (Head Coach) Paul Nixon, who had eyed Ajinkya in the past, so he was always on our radar.
"It was a case of seeing what the team needed, which was definitely a senior overseas batsman, so we are delighted to have secured someone of Ajinkya’s calibre.”
Rahane made his last Test appearance in January 2022 against South Africa at Cape Town where he registered scores of 1 and 9. He was unimpressive in 2021 with just 479 runs from 23 innings at an average of 20.82 including just two half-centuries.
In the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2022-2023 season, Rahane who is leading Mumbai, has scored 634 runs from seven matches at an average of 57.63 including a double hundred. Despite a decent season, he was nowhere near getting selected in the 17-member Test squad for Border-Gavaskar trophy.
