A simple glance through the social media sites post the mini auction last December ahead of the ongoing 16th season of the IPL, and fans could be seen ridiculing the Chennai Super Kings auction strategy, when they roped in Ajinkya Rahane in their squad at his base price of INR 50 Lakh.
Advertisement
Even after having him in the squad, he was certainly not expected to be part of the Playing XI, especially after enduring some tough preceding months in international Cricket, where he presently even finds himself out of the Indian Test team squad.
However, not only is he included in the starting XI during the match against Mumbai Indians, but he also goes on to smash the second-fastest half-century ever by a CSK player off mere 19 deliveries. Moreover, his innings of 61 (27) turns out to be a match-winning knock, as MI were handed a 7-wicket defeat.
Ajinkya Rahane IPL Teams
CSK happens to be Ajinkya Rahane’s sixth IPL team, having played the tournament across each season (barring 2010) since the inaugural edition in 2007/08.
While he batted for the Mumbai Indians during the first two seasons, he became a crucial part of the Rajasthan Royals franchise from 2011-2019. During the two years (2016 and 2017) when RR were banned from partaking in the tournament, he played for the Rising Pune Supergiants.
He then went on to play for the Delhi Capitals for the next two seasons, and then became part of the KKR franchise, who roped him in their squad during the mega auction at INR 1 Crore.
Not managing to score a half-century during the 7 innings he played for them in IPL 2022, he was released from the squad, only to now play under MS Dhoni‘s leadership in the ongoing season.
Ajinkya Rahane’s Indian Premier League Career summary
| S.No. | Teams | Duration | Matches | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | 50s | 100s |
| 1 | Mumbai Indians | 2008-2010 | 10 | 148 | 18.5 | 105.71 | 2 | 0 |
| 2 | Rajasthan Royals | 2011-2015; 2018-19 | 106 | 3098 | 35.61 | 122.31 | 16 | 2 |
| 3 | Rising Pune Supergiants | 2016-2017 | 30 | 862 | 33.15 | 122.79 | 8 | 0 |
| 4 | Delhi Capitals | 2020-2021 | 11 | 121 | 13.44 | 105.22 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 2022 | 7 | 133 | 19 | 103.91 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Chennai Super Kings | 2023 | 2* | 92 | 46 | 200 | 1 | 0 |
