The relationship between Ajinkya Rahane and Yashasvi Jaiswal has often attracted plenty of eyeballs within Mumbai's cricketing circle. Rahane is one of the standout captains of the Mumbai cricket team, who carries the respect of being an experienced campaigner, while Jaiswal represents the new generation, having cemented himself as one of Indian cricket's most exciting and aggressive young batters.
Rahane and Jaiswal's rivalry
Signs of altercation between the two had surfaced a lot. One big incident came during the 2022 Duleep Trophy final, when Jaiswal was engaged in verbal exchanges with South Zone batter T Ravi Teja despite multiple warnings from the match officials.
West Zone skipper Rahane initially tried to defuse the situation and urged Jaiswal to avoid further confrontation. However, with the exchanges continuing, Rahane had to instruct his teammate to leave the field for some time.
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In an interaction with The Indian Express, Rahane opened up on the incident saying the altercation could have resulted in a match ban for Jaiswal, as he received multiple warnings from the match officials. As per Rahane, the match official was ready with a 4-match ban letter but no action was taken.
"I sensed the situation, then, would have gone out of hand. Yes, at that point Yashasvi must have felt bad. But we’ve seen many situations where players have been banned, and you never know how time changes. One opportunity gone, your time changes—you never know. I sensed the situation and also felt both players were going out of hand, and it was my responsibility to control my teammate," revealed Rahane.
The match referee was ready with a 4-match ban—the letter was already written. He came up to me and said, ‘This is the letter, but because you did this, I’m tearing it up.’ He tore the letter in front of me… In the end, I was happy that Jaiswal didn’t get any match ban, and now he’s playing for India. What could have happened? Maybe he wouldn’t have played after that, or maybe not. He’s a quality player—I’m not taking any credit away from him. But you never know," added Rahane.
Did Jaiswal want to leave Mumbai?
Later in 2025, several reports of a clash between Jaiswal and Rahane emerged when the young opener considered leaving Mumbai to represent Goa in domestic cricket, although he eventually changed his mind. At that time reports claimed that Jaiswal's strained relationship with Rahane was one of the factors behind the proposed move. It was also alleged that Jaiswal had kicked Rahane's kit bag after a disagreement in which the veteran bater questioned his commitment towards Mumbai cricket.