The Rahane-led side outclassed the depending champions Mumbai Indians by seven wickets on Sunday, courtesy a whirlwind unbeaten 94 by opener Jos Buttler who stuck his fifth consecutive fifty in the tournament.
Sitting comfortably with a 304-run lead, India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane said the plans of batting just once during the match seems to have worked for the team.
Shreyas Iyer continued with his red-hot form, smashing a stroke-filled 233 to lead Mumbai to a massive 602/4 declared in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match against Odisha.
Batsman Ajinkya Rahane is expecting the Kanpur wicket to assist the Indian spinners and says the team's performance in the first Test will set the tone for a long home season, comprising 13 five-day games.
It is highly unlikely that he will be India's number four at the World Cup but India's Test vice-captain is keen to add on to his 90 ODIs.
The complete list of players sold in the IPL 2025 Auction in Jeddah.
After the one-off Afghanistan Test match, Rahane has nothing to look forward to as he has been dropped from the limited-overs side which is going to UK first. The Test series against England is scheduled to start on August 1 after a limited-overs series featuring three T20 Internationals and an equal number of ODIs beginning July 3.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir, BCCI president Roger Binny and all-rounder Hardik Pandya led the long list of joyous members of the cricketing fraternity in lauding Jay Shah, who was on Tuesday elected unopposed as the ICC Chairman.
Can't give excuses: Rahane on batting failure in IPL Eliminator
There remains a big question mark over who will be India's No.4 in the World Cup.
Vihari, Gill and Iyer have all played Tests for India in the absence of regular players and Rohit said a decision on the composition of the side against Sri Lanka was yet to be made.
'All of us have played domestic cricket in almost empty stadiums, so that's an experience all cricketers are used to'.
CSK have a man behind stumps telling them what's working: Hardik Pandya pats MS Dhoni
Steve Smith may have been disgraced for his role in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa but newly-appointed Rajasthan Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane said that he still respects him as a world-class batsman.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane shared an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 93 to keep alive India's hopes of a series-levelling win over Australia, giving the hosts a lead of 126 on a see-saw third day of the second Test in Bengaluru on Monday.
India's injury woes continued as batting mainstay Ajinkya Rahane was ruled out of the remaining two Tests against England due to injury. He will be replaced by Karnataka batsman Manish Pandey. Apparently, Rahane sustained a finger injury on his right index finger during India's training session at the Wankhede stadium on Wednesday.
'It's completely mental (adjustment). The good thing in this team is anyone can bat at anywhere. We have that flexibility. I have batted at top, numbers 3,4 and 5. It's important to handle that situation and utilise that situation. If you adjust in mind, you can adapt anywhere' 'He did not say anything about my technique but spoke only on the mental aspect'
The lure to play an extra bowler in Hardik Pandya along with an in-form Rohit Sharma in the opening Test against South Africa has cast doubts over Ajinkya Rahane's place in the playing XI despite having the best away record among the current crop of batsmen.
Tanush Kotian's five-wicket haul helped Mumbai bounce back as the visitors bowled out Baroda for 185 in their second innings.
Openers KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock hit fifties as LSG trounced CSK by eight wickets.
'I would say Rahane is aggressive in his own quiet way'
Left sleepless the last time he played a bad shot against Mumbai Indians, in-form Rajasthan Royals batsman Ajinkya Rahane said he was desperate to set the record straight and that inspired him to strike a sublime match-winning knock of 91 in an Indian Premier League match against the Delhi Daredevils on Sunday.
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Monday
Virat Kohli has joined the growing list of celebrities, political leaders and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, to tweet on unity and farmers
CSK can ill-afford to take Punjab Kings lightly, who are coming in to this match after chasing down a world record total of 262 against KKR.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane hit unbeaten centuries to power India to 344 for three against Sri Lanka on Day 1 of the second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo, on Thursday.
While it is generally his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has made this habit of hitting the winning runs - in some style too, Ajinkya Rahane had that honour in Rising Pune Supergiants' match against the Delhi Daredevils.
In need of a victory to firm-up their position in the IPL play-offs race, Chennai Super Kings have the heavy task of nullifying a deeply hurt and frustrated Rajasthan Royals in Chennai on Sunday.
The talent is in plenty in this squad and if this machine runs smoothly, a sixth IPL trophy will be at touching distance for Thala and Co.
He might not be scoring big runs in the ongoing 10th edition of the Indian Premier League, but Rising Pune Supergiant opener Ajinkya Rahane is a contented man as long as his contributions are bringing out positive results for his side.
India finished the second day on 308 for four in 81 overs. They trail West Indies by just three runs, after the visitors were bowled out for 311 earlier in the day.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI for the second Test against Bangladesh?
Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane conceded that the batsmen committed mistakes under challenging conditions as India were bowled out for just 107 runs in the first innings of the rain-affected second Test against England, at Lord's, on Friday.
Rahul Dravid's tenure as India Head Coach, which ended gloriously with the T20 World Cup triumph in Barbados on Saturday, will remain a case study on how to be stately and understated at the same time in modern-day cricket coaching.
Pointing out that Ajinkya Rahane has the quality to open and play in the middle-order, India captain Virat Kohli insisted that he could see the former providing greater balance to the side than anyone else.
Rajasthan Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane said that bowlers too should be given credit if the ball hit the wickets but do not dislodge the stumps by declaring it a dead ball.
Wankhede Stadium witnessed a gathering of cricketing royalty in the past two days
Domestic heavyweights Mumbai ended their eight-year barren run to lift a record-extending 42nd Ranji Trophy title on Thursday
Punjab, starting the penultimate day on 73/3 and needing 144 more runs, crumbled under pressure from Sindhu's relentless spin and Jayant Yadav's precise off-spin (3/35 in 10.4 overs), collapsing well before lunch and handing Haryana their second outright win in four matches.
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Saturday.
