Ajinkya Rahane, the stand-in captain who led India to victory at the Gabba
Ajinkya Rahane rarely held the job for long, yet he was one of India's most successful captains. Handed the Test team in Australia in December 2020 while Virat Kohli went home for his child's birth, he steered a series win that included Australia's first defeat at Brisbane's Gabba in 32 years.
Born in 1988 in Ashwi Khurd, Maharashtra, Rahane started at seven on a matting pitch in a modest Dombivli camp, because his family could not pay for better coaching; from 17 he trained under the former India batsman Pravin Amre. He writes left-handed but bats and bowls off-spin with his right.
Domestic runs came in torrents. He scored 143 on first-class debut for Mumbai at 19, against Karachi Urban in Karachi, while the regulars were away. In his second Ranji season he piled up 1089 runs to help Mumbai to their 38th title, and he passed a thousand in three separate seasons. Even so, he sat in the Test squad for 16 months, carrying drinks while seven others made debuts, before his own first cap in March 2013.
That debut against Australia in Delhi brought two single-figure scores, but touring suited him. In South Africa in 2013–14 he averaged 69.66 against Steyn, Morkel and Philander. His first hundred came in Wellington, arriving at 156 for five, and he added centuries at Lord's and Melbourne. In Sri Lanka in 2015 he held eight catches in one Test, a world record, and later that year he made twin hundreds against South Africa in Delhi, only the fifth Indian to do so.
His record as leader is striking: in six Tests in charge he won four and drew two. In Melbourne in 2020 he scored 112 and guided an eight-wicket victory, earning the match award, before India drew at Sydney and won in Brisbane. He also captained Mumbai to the 2023–24 Ranji title despite poor personal form, and retired from all cricket in July 2026.
Source: Ajinkya Rahane
