Taking into consideration his first three Indian Premier League 2023 innings, it wouldn’t be an understatement to say that Chennai Super Kings batter Ajinkya Rahane has never looked in this good touch in this format previously.
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Been playing T20 cricket for over 16 years now, Rahane has been there, done that, in an IPL career spanning across six franchises. The right-handed batter, however, seems to be in a different class altogether after donning the Yellow jersey.
In addition to his form, Rahane’s temperament, body language, role clarity, positive mindset and all other facets associated with a batter have provided signs of being in sync with one another. Currently into his second IPL season since being dropped from the national team, Rahane looks reformed to the hilt as far as his T20 career is concerned.
A man who looks to be on a mission of regaining his spot in the Indian squad, Rahane oozes confidence on the back of an impressive domestic season for Mumbai. An epitome for several other modern-day cricketers who refrain from representing their state teams, the 34-year old player has grabbed all opportunities which have come his way in the ongoing 16th season of the biggest T20 league in the world.
Ajinkya Rahane’s strike rate this season is astonishing. Playing non stop domestic cricket does help…
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) April 17, 2023
Ajinkya Rahane IPL 2023 Runs (first paragraph and table have been updated)
Fourth-highest IPL 2023 run-scorer among his teammates, Rahane’s 326 runs have come at an average of 32.60 and a mind-blowing strike rate of 172.48.
| S. No. | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | SR | Opposition | Ground |
| 1 | 61 | 27 | 7 | 3 | 225.92 | MI | Mumbai (WS) |
| 2 | 31 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 163.15 | RR | Chennai |
| 3 | 37 | 20 | 3 | 2 | 185 | RCB | Bengaluru |
| 4 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 90 | SRH | Chennai |
| 5 | 71* | 29 | 6 | 5 | 244.82 | KKR | Kolkata |
| 6 | 15 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 115.38 | RR | Jaipur |
| 7 | 21 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 123.52 | MI | Chennai |
| 8 | 21 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 105 | DC | Chennai |
| 9 | 16 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 145.45 | KKR | Chennai |
| 10 | 17 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 170 | GT | Chennai |
| 11 | 27 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 207.69 | GT | Ahmedabad |
A self-assured Rahane not only excelled with the bat in hand in CSK’s latest match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium but also contributed as a fielder.
When RCB captain Faf du Plessis and all-rounder Glenn Maxwell were going hammer and tongs at the visiting bowlers, Rahane saved as many as eight runs in less than two overs in the middle overs. A splendid leap and an acrobatic dive in the ninth and 11th over respectively saw Rahane saving five and three runs. Interestingly, Super Kings ended up winning the match by 8 runs at the end.
Ajinkya Rahane T20 Record at Number 3
Although Rahane has scored most of his T20 runs as an opening batter, he has batted at No. 3 quite a few times as well. Having said that, keeping aside his performances from this season, he has had a torrid time at this batting position in this format.
In 34 T20 innings at No. 3, Rahane’s 588 runs have come at an average of 18.37 and a strike rate of 118.78 including four half-centuries.
