Former India captain Ajinkya Rahane, who recently made a comeback to the senior men's national team, is set to play for English county side Leicestershire. The veteran Indian cricketer will be plying his trade in County division two after the completion of India's two-match Test series against West Indies. Rahane was part of India's World Test Championship (WTC) final team that lost the match against Australia at The Oval, London.
“Ajinkya, after the two Tests in West Indies, is supposed to fly directly to England and join Leicestershire for the remainder of the season. He will play Royal London Cup in August and a possible four County games in September as he is unlikely to be a part of white ball scheme of things," PTI quoted a BCCI source as saying.
India's next assignment is against West Indies as the team will tour for a full-fledged bilateral series. India are set to play two Tests, three ODIs and five T20Is on the tour of the West Indies starting July 12 post a long break after the WTC final. The first Test of the new WTC cycle will begin on July 12 at Windsor Park, Dominica. Post the West Indies Test series, India will not play a Test match till December.
After a successful outing against Australia in the WTC final, Rahane is expected to be part of India's Test squad for the West Indies tour.
The veteran Indian batter finalised the deal with Leicestershire earlier in the year in January and was scheduled to play a bunch of red-ball and white-ball matches. After performing exceptionally well in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 for champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Rahane was re-called to the Indian Test side. Hence, he didn't join the Leicestershire County side.
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