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Ajinkya Rahane is 37 now, two years out of India’s Test side and still waiting for a call that may not come. Yet the former vice-captain sounds neither bitter nor resigned. Speaking to Sky Sports in London, Rahane offered a simple message: “I still want to play Test cricket.”
Key facts first. Rahane last played a Test in January 2023. Since then the national selectors have turned firmly towards youth. Shubman Gill has filled Virat Kohli’s old No.4 slot, Rishabh Pant is entrenched at No.5 and KL Rahul is the only senior batter clearly in their plans. Rahane, meanwhile, has kept himself in view through domestic cricket: leading Mumbai to the Ranji Trophy title in 2023-24, coming second the following season and topping Kolkata Knight Riders’ run charts in IPL 2025.
The numbers are solid rather than spectacular. In 2024-25 Ranji cricket he scored 467 runs at 35.92, including a hundred and a fifty. For KKR he managed 390 runs at a strike-rate of 147.27. Not figures that kick down doors, but enough to keep his name in discussion.
So why the silence from the selectors? Rahane doesn’t know, and he says he has tried to find out. “Frankly, I tried to have conversations with the selectors, but things [like that are] as a player I cannot control. I got no response,” he told Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton. “As a player all I can do is keep playing cricket, keep enjoying the game, give my best each and every time.”
He is in London for a short break – trainers and gym kit packed – before pre-season with Mumbai. “Our domestic season is starting, so preparations have just begun,” he said, adding that his hunger remains undimmed: “I love playing Test cricket, love playing red-ball, it’s a passion. The love for the game keeps me going.”
Former India batter and TV analyst Sanjay Manjrekar believes that passion still counts. “Selectors often say they want youngsters, but an experienced player in form can be invaluable in tough overseas conditions,” Manjrekar told an Indian radio show last week. Whether that view reaches the selection table is another matter.
The new management team, headed by captain Gill and coach Rahul Dravid, has made no public statement on Rahane’s future. With India scheduled to tour Australia next winter, squad spots are limited and competition fierce. Younger middle-order options such as Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma have already impressed in A-team cricket, hinting at a longer-term plan.
Rahane accepts the landscape yet refuses to give up. “For me, it’s all about focusing on the controllable things,” he said. Domestic runs, fitness sessions in London parks, quiet phone calls that may or may not be returned – none of it glamorous, all of it necessary if another Test cap is to come.
For now, the silence persists, but Rahane’s stance is clear: keep playing, keep waiting, and hope that passion and persistence still carry weight in Indian selection rooms.
