New Delhi: Ajinkya Rahane made his 200th first-class appearance memorable, cracking his 29th first-class hundred in Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Haryana at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Overnight unbeaten on 88 runs, Rahane reached three figures in the morning session before falling for 108 to Anuj Thakarai. With his latest century, the middle-order batter has hit 41 firs-class tons, including 12 in Test cricket.
Though he has been out of favour from the Indian team since July 2023, he is close to reaching 14,000 runs in the red-ball format.
Ajinkya Rahane, dropped from the Test side after a solid WTC 2023 final and struggling in IPL 2024, is proving his worth again. Backed by KKR, he’s shining across formats. Now century in the Ranji Trophy Quarter Final .#RanjiTrophy | #AjinkyaRahane pic.twitter.com/VJ796ucQzr
— Harsh 17 (@harsh03443) February 11, 2025
In his 180-ball 108, the right hander struck 13 boundaries on way to hist first century on the ongoing Ranji campaign and put together a 129-run stand with India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav, who was dismissed for 70 on Monday.
His knock helped Mumbai extend their lead to over 300 runs and all but guaranteed Mumbai’s progress into the semi-finals.
After Mumbai had taken a 14-run lead in the first innings, Mumbai were in a spot of bother at 48/2 having lost openers Ayush Mhatre and Akash Anand when Rahane went into bat on Monday.
He stabilised their innings with a matured display and together with Yadav built a sizeable increased. After Yadav’s deaprture at 229/4, Rahane stitched together an 85-run partnership with Shivam Dube, who scored 48 to build their lead.
Rich form
In the ongoing 2024-24 Ranji Trophy campaign, Rahane has amassed 437 runs in 12 innings, including a hundred and two half centuries.
Despite his absence from India’s Test team, he has remained a consistent scorer in domestic cricket, scoring 469 runs in nine Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament at an average of 58.62 and a strike rate of 164.56.
Having represented Chennai Super Kings in the 2023 and 2024 Indian Premier Leagues, he was picked up by defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2025 edition, which will begin on March 21.
Ajinkya Rahane was not out on 88 overnight and reached his century in the morning session before falling for 108 runs. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
