Ajinkya Rahane’s form in IPL 2023 puts him in contention for World Test Championship final spot
At a time when India will miss the services of Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Rajat Patidar, and there is a hole in the middle order, Rahane has put his name up for discussion.
Few days before the start of the ongoing Indian Premier League season as Chennai Super Kings played an intra-squad practice fixture, one of the notable absentees was Ajinkya Rahane. In a game where the likes of Shivam Dube, Devon Conway and Moeen Ali batted twice, Rahane didn’t get an opportunity to bat. Instead, he headed to the practice facilities at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, where he faced a few throwdowns and batted against net bowlers. He cut a lonely figure that day as he quietly trained away from all the attention as even the support staff were engrossed in what was happening in the middle.
That looks like a long time ago now. After 33 matches into the IPL, Rahane is sitting at the top of the strike rate charts (189) for any batsman who has faced a minimum of 100 deliveries. This is a season when Rahane has not just taken the IPL by storm, when one least expected him to, but has also served a timely reminder that he is not content with what he has had.
After being dropped from the Test side in 2022, between Cheteshwar Pujara and Rahane, it looked as if the latter would be the first to make a comeback. Between the two, Rahane seemed to be in better touch and space, but Pujara took the County route and returned to the Test squad within four months.
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