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India veteran Ajinkya Rahane is likely to play for English county team Leicestershire in division two after his assignment on India’s tour of West Indies. The tour will begin from July 12 with two Tests scheduled to start on July 12 and July 20, respectively. Rahane signed a deal with Leicestershire in January and was to play eight first-class games.
Not only this, but the Maharashtra-born cricketer is also expected to play the entire Royal London Club, which is a domestic 50-over tournament, from June to September after his tenure with the Indian Premier League 2023 champions Chennai Super Kings. However, the plan came to a halt as Rahane joined India in the World Test Championship Final 2023 and couldn’t join his county team immediately after the IPL ended.
A BCCI source was quoted by PTI, "Ajinkya, after the two Tests in West Indies (which is supposed to end on July 24), is supposed to fly directly to England and join Leicestershire for the remainder of the season. He will play in the Royal London Cup in August and a possible four County games in September as he is unlikely to be a part of white-ball scheme of things.”
Rahane played for Hampshire in the 2019 season, and this will be his second county stint. The 35-year-old cricketer became the highest run-scorer on the Indian side in the recently concluded WTC Final 2023. The former Test captain scored 89 runs in India’s first innings and 46 in second innings. The Rohit Sharma-led side slumped to Australia in their second consecutive WTC Final by a huge margin of 209 runs.
