Reports: Leicestershire sign India Test batter Ajinkya Rahane for 2023 season

Former India Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane has reportedly signed up with Leicestershire for the 2023 season which would see him participate in both County Championships as well as the One Day Cup tournament. Rahane has not donned the whites for India since the South Africa series in January this year.

At the same time, Rahane also has his Indian Premier League (IPL) commitments in the next summer. However, it remains to be seen whether he would be retained by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the first place or not. The two-time winners had brought him on board for a sum of INR one crore at the IPL 2022 mega auction earlier this year.

Ajinkya Rahane reportedly set to play County cricket in 2023

The move behind Leicestershire signing up Ajinkya Rahane for the next season could be for making improvements in their collective performances, with Rahane bringing in a lot of experience with his technique and temperament in red-ball cricket. 

Leicestershire had a forgettable 2022 County Championship season as they finished winless and ended their tournament at the rock bottom of Division 2. They finished with 93 points from their 14 encounters and were a good 35 points behind the seventh-placed Sussex (128).

Meanwhile, this would be a wonderful opportunity for Rahane to try and make a comeback to the Indian red-ball side. He was first axed as the Indian Test vice-captain ahead of the South Africa tour in December last year owing to his underwhelming performances before being sidelined ahead of the home series against Sri Lanka in February along with the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Ishant Sharma, and, veteran wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha.

Even Cheteshwar Pujara has got a contract extension from Sussex for the 2023 season as he amassed more than 1000 runs in this year's County Championship averaging 109.4 including three double centuries. He also led them to the semi-finals of the One Day competition in the absence of an injured Tom Haines.