India top-order batter Ajinkya Rahane announced his comeback to Test cricket by completing 5000 runs on Friday, June 9. The 35-year-old achieved the feat on Day 3 of the WTC Final against Australia at The Oval.
Rahane raced to his milestone by scoring 69 runs in his 83rd Test match. Along the way, he also completed his 26th half-century. Rahane was dropped from India’s Test side after an away series against South Africa in January 2022, missing the following home series against Sri Lanka, the Birmingham Test against England and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023.
The right-hander returned to the Test side on the back of brilliant performances in the domestic, including the IPL.
The comeback man Rahane is 13th in the list of most runs by India players, joining the 5000-runs club alongside Kapil Dev (5248), Gundappa Viswanath (6080), Mohammad Azharuddin (6215), Dilip Vengsarkar (6868), Cheteshwar Pujara (7168*), Sourav Ganguly (7212), Virat Kohli (8430*), Virender Sehwag (8503), VVS Laxman (8781), Sunil Gavaskar (10122), Rahul Dravid (13265) and Sachin Tendulkar (15921).
Rahane displayed his transformation in the recent IPL 2023, scoring 326 runs, including a high score of 71 not out, for the champions Chennai Super Kings.
