Ajinkya Rahane set to join Mumbai’s off-season practice camp
India’s veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane is all set to join Mumbai’s off-season camp after having recovered from injury. The camp is known to be held at Mumbai Cricket Association’s indoor nets facility at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) from early next week.
It is to be noted that Rahane suffered a hamstring injury during the penultimate league-stage match of the 2022 Indian T20 League against the Hyderabad franchise. The right-handed batter has been named in the list of 47 players the Mumbai’s selectors named for an off-season fitness camp at BKC, which will begin either on August 22 or 23.
Mumbai chief selector Salil Ankola believes that the presence of experienced players like Rahane will help youngsters in the camp.
“Rahane has come back from the National Cricket Academy (after recuperating from the injury). He’s fine now. I met him recently. The presence of senior players like him will help youngsters in the camp,” Ankola told TOI. “We had conveyed to Tare last season that he’s not in the scheme of things in white-ball cricket.”
Rahane was the rock of the Indian middle order in Tests and generally batted at the No.5 slot but earlier this year, he lost his place following his dismal form with the bat. The senior batter was not included for the Sri Lanka Tests at home.
After a mediocre performance in the Indian T20 League, he was sidelined due to his hamstring injury. As a result, he was not considered for the rescheduled fifth Test against England. The 34-year-old will like to put a good showing in the domestic circuit and make a comeback to the Indian Test team.
The ace Indian batter has played 82 Tests and has amassed 4931 runs at an average of almost 39. Rahane has 25 fifties and 12 centuries to his name in the longer formats of the game. In his starting years, he was part of India’s white-ball plans too but gradually fell behind the pecking order. He has featured in 90 ODIs and 20 T20Is for the Men in Blue and aggregated 2962 and 375 runs respectively. Rahane played his last International limited overs game in February 2018.
