Ajinkya Rahane announces retirement from international cricket with immediate effect

Former Indian captain & veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane has announced his retirement from international cricket. He shared the news through a post on Instagram, where he uploaded a video message with the caption: Cap 278 signing off. 

"Thank you for all the love and support over the years. Forever grateful," Rahane wrote in his post. 

He last played an international match for India against West Indies in 2023. Since then, he has been constantly playing in domestic cricket tournaments & IPL as well, but he has been unable to return to the national side. After announcing his retirement, Rahane was looking emotional, and his eyes were in tears. 

“The reality of life is that everything has a beginning and everything has an end. When the time comes, you simply have to respect it and move forward. I have always relied on timing in my batting and have always understood its importance," Rahane said.

"Today, I feel the timing is right for me to move on and announce my retirement from international cricket and all formats. From those early days, travelling as a young boy just to practice, I gave this game everything I had. Every single day, every innings, every opportunity I got to bat, the dream was always to wear the India cap," he added.

"I lived by one simple rule. Always put my country and my team ahead of myself. I played this game with complete honesty, and I have always believed that if your intent is right, the game will always take care of you," the veteran cricketer said. 

A look at Ajinkya Rahane’s career

Ajinkya Rahane made his List A debut in 2007 for Mumbai. He performed brilliantly in domestic matches. He was picked by the Mumbai Indians in the inaugural edition. He constantly scored runs in domestic matches, and he got the reward when he got his maiden international call-up. 

Ajinkya Rahane made his international debut against England in 2011. This was a T20I game, where he opened the innings. In this game, he scored 61 runs in 39 balls. Despite his brilliant innings, India lost the game. But everyone understood his batting abilities. Just 3 days later, he also made his ODI debut. However, to get his maiden Test call-up, he waited for almost 17 months. He made his Test debut in 2013 against Australia at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. 

He scored 8414 international runs, including 5077 Test Runs, 2962 ODI runs and 375 T20I runs.

During the transition phase of the Indian team, when legendary players like Sachin, Sehwag, Laxman, Dravid, and Gambhir were retiring, Ajinkya was one of the guys fighting for his place in all 3 formats.

His ODI and T20I career was not so long. In 20 T20I innings, he generally played at the top of the order. In ODIs, he mostly played as an opener; however, he batted at 4 when Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli sealed their spots in the top 3 positions in the batting order. In the 2015 WC, Rahane was part of the Indian squad.

In the longest format, Rahane mostly played at No.5. He has 5077 runs in the test format, including 12 centuries and 26 half-centuries. He served as vice-captain when Virat Kohli was leading the test side. Rahane was the captain of India's historic Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020/21 triumph, and for this achievement, he will always be remembered. The Test era of Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, and Ajinkya Rahane is widely regarded as one of the golden chapters in Indian cricket. Together, the quartet formed the backbone of India's batting lineup.

In his IPL career, he played for Mumbai Indians (2008–10), Rajasthan Royals (2011 to 15 and 2018 to 2019), Rising Pune Supergiants (2016 &2017), Delhi Capitals (2020 &2021), Chennai Super Kings (2023 & 2024) and Kolkata Knight Riders (2025 & 2026). He has also served as captain of Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders.