Ajinkya Rahane is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the Indian national team. He is a right-handed batsman and an occasional right-arm off-break bowler. Rahane was born in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, and made his first-class debut aged 19 for Mumbai in 2007.

Rahane had an impressive start to his first-class career, scoring a century on debut against Karachi Urban in the Mohammad Nissar Trophy. He scored 1,089 runs in his debut Ranji Trophy season in 2007-08 at an average of 68.06, setting the record for most runs by an individual in a single Ranji season. In 2008, he moved from Maharashtra to Mumbai and played Ranji Trophy cricket for Mumbai.

Rahane was the leading run-scorer in the 2008–09 Ranji Trophy with 907 runs at an average of 63.57. His performances earned him an Indian Premier League contract with the Mumbai Indians franchise in 2008. After the inaugural IPL season, he joined the India A team for a tour of Australia and continued putting up consistent performances.

Rahane made his Test debut for India in March 2013 against Australia in Delhi. His first major innings for India came in that series when he scored 96 on a tricky Delhi pitch. He followed it up with an unbeaten 118 in the next Test at Dharamsala to help India clinch the series. He established himself as a regular in the Test team over the next year.

Rahane scored his maiden Test century against New Zealand in February 2014 at Auckland. His knocks of 118 and 88 in that series made him one of the leading run-scorers. In 2015, he scored his highest Test score of 188 against New Zealand at Indore. Consistent performances led to him being appointed vice-captain of the Indian Test team in late 2015.

In December 2016, Rahane scored his second double-hundred in Tests with an innings of 243 against England in Chennai. He was the third-fastest Indian to reach 3000 Test runs.

As captain, Rahane led India to a 2-1 series win against Australia in 2020-21 after regular captain Virat Kohli left after the first Test on paternity leave. Under his captaincy, India staged an epic comeback after being bundled out for 36 in the first Test at Adelaide.

Rahane was dropped from the Indian Test squad in 2023 due to inconsistent form and lack of big scores over the preceding years. His last Test match for India came against Sri Lanka in March 2022.

While a regular in the Indian Test team, Rahane struggled to cement his place in the ODI and T20I teams due to intense competition. He played his last ODI in February 2018 and his final T20I appearance came in August 2016.

Rahane was part of the Mumbai Indians setup from 2008 to 2011. In 2012, he was bought by Rajasthan Royals for ₹4.2 crores. He remained with the Royals franchise till 2019, captaining them in 2018 and 2019. After being released by Rajasthan in 2020, he was bought by Delhi Capitals but did not get many games. Back at his initial franchise Mumbai Indians from 2022 onwards, his opportunities have been limited once again.