Ajinkya Rahane, the best batter in India, hasn’t played on the international scene in a while. Ajinkya Rahane was dropped for the recently finished series against South Africa because, after making an unexpected return to the team for the World Test Championship final and a two-match series against the West Indies, he was unable to leave a lasting impression on the selectors. Additionally, the hitter from Ashwi, KD, has not been named for the first two Test matches against England, which start at the tail end of January.
Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed for a golden duck once more, this time by keeper-batter Sanju Samson on just the second ball of the innings.
Currently playing in the Ranji Trophy 2024, the star batter is trying to earn a spot back in the national team’s dressing room by playing first-class cricket. The captain of Mumbai, who was absent from the first game in Patna against Bihar, returned to captain the 41-time champion team against Andhra at his home venue of BKC. But in the one and only innings he played, he failed to open his account, going out for a duck off Nitish Kumar Reddy, and the hosts secured their second successive bonus, winning with relative ease.
Many people were watching the veteran Indian hitter, expecting him to score heavily in the current match against Kerala, after a poor performance. The odds, however, were against Rahane as Mumbai faced early trouble on Day One, losing two of their wickets in as many balls bowled by Basil Thampi in the first over itself.
Cheteshwar Pujara merrily sprints to score whenever he pleases.
Notably, like Cheteshwar Pujara, who is currently the 2024 edition’s second-leading run scorer with a solid 243* in the opening game at Rajkot that helped Saurashtra secure a draw against Jharkhand, it is imperative that the red-ball specialist Rahane bounce back harder on the forthcoming occasions in order to make a strong statement to selectors. This is especially true after two straight golden ducks.