Ajinkya Rahane smashes second double hundred in domestic season

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Mumbai, December 21: Former India captain Ajinkya Rahane smashed his second double hundred of the domestic season during the Ranji Trophy 2022-23 match between Mumbai and Hyderabad on Wednesday (December 21).

Earlier in September, Rahane scored a double hundred for West Zone in the Duleep Trophy match against North Zone. He had scored 207 off 264 balls in a match which ended in a draw.

Now, Rahane, who showed signs of return to form on day 1 of the Ranji Trophy match with an unbeaten 139, resumed day 2 by completing his double hundred inside session 1. He reached 200 in 253 balls at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy in Mumbai.

This will be an important knock for Rahane, who has been out of the Indian Test side since the South Africa tour earlier this year, when he scored 126 runs in the six innings. He has not scored a Test century since the incredible innings at Melbourne in 2020.

The 34-year-old former captain has been out of reckoning from the national team since then and this knock will do him a word of good ahead of the next red ball assignment for India.

Rahane was later dismissed for 204 off 261 balls before sharing a 196-run stand with Sarfaraz Khan, who has continued his form from last season, with another hundred. Sarfaraz remained unbeaten on 117, taking Mumbai's total to 612/4 in 119 overs.

Rahane's knock of 204 included 26 fours and 3 sixes. He had scored 44 in the first round of the Ranji Trophy matches against Andhra.

Earlier, Rahane got to his hundred in just 121 balls as Mumbai dominated the opening day of the 2nd round of Ranji Trophy matches, ending with 457 for 3 at Stumps on Day 1.

Young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal also scored 162 from just 195 balls to give Mumbai a blistering start, while world No. 1 T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav, who was playing first-class cricket for the first time since February 2020, smashed 90 from just 80 balls.

Can Rahane return to India Test Team?

The chances look slim as it stands with the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara stepping up their game. Also, the likes of Sarfaraz Khan are knocking on the door in case a place is vacant. But with injuries to key players, Rahane may get another look in if he continues to score at the domestic level. Well, that's how Pujara kept his place after getting massive runs in the English county.