Ajinkya Rahane Joins 1st T20 League Days After IPL Retirement

Ajinkya Rahane - (Sourcre: AFP)

In a significant development, India great Ajinkya Rahane has already found his new destination days after announcing his international retirement. The right-handed batter was out of the scheme of things for India since July 2023 and called it a day on July 30.

The 38-year-old, who famously led India to a Border-Gavaskar Trophy win in the 2020-21 season, announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, meaning he won’t be available for KKR in IPL 2027, leaving the captain's post vacant.

Ajinkya Rahane joins ETPL as a player

In a significant development, a report from Revsportz mentioned that Ajinkya Rahane has penned a deal with the European T20 Premier League (ETPL) and will feature in the inaugural edition as a player. 

A report suggests that the 38-year-old will join Dublin Guardians backed by Rahul Dravid just 10 days after his international retirement.

Notably, one of the primary reasons behind retiring from all formats of the game was to make himself available for franchise cricket outside India. For those unversed, the BCCI do not allow active Indian cricketers to take part in overseas leagues.

The inaugural edition of ETPL starts on August 26, where 6 teams will battle it out across 34 matches to find a winner.

Ajinkya Rahane Joins R Ashwin Among Indians Exploring Global Leagues

For the longest time, Indian cricketers were only seen in the IPL, but lately there has been a growing trend of out-of-favour cricketers opting to retire and then make themselves available for franchise cricket.

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Recently, R Ashwin too retired ahead of IPL 2026 and penned deals with BBL, ILT20, and also MLC 2026. The former India spinner is also part of ETPL 2026, where he will captain Dublin Guardians. Ajinkya Rahane will play under Ashwin's leadership in the upcoming tournament. 

Other than Ashwin and Rahane, Vijay Shankar too announced all-format retirement and recently took part in the Lanka Premier League, making a mark for himself with Kandy Royals. Similarly, the trend is expected to grow, and several more players are expected to follow the same path.

Why Did Ajinkya Rahane Announce IPL Retirement And Join ETPL?

Ajinkya Rahane had a brilliant couple of seasons with KKR, amassing 390 runs in IPL 2025 and 335 runs in IPL 2026. However, his captaincy at KKR was under the scanner because he failed to replicate Shreyas Iyer’s title-winning season in 2024.

Notably, KKR finished 8th in IPL 2025 and 7th in IPL 2026. Hence, failing to qualify for the playoffs in two successive seasons raised valid questions, and there were rumours that the management might not retain Ajinkya Rahane.

Therefore, the former India captain read the room and opted to retire to explore global leagues.

Talking about ETPL, it is mostly dominated by associate nations, allowing them a platform to grow. The league will also serve as an audition ground to get interest from global leagues like IPL, PSL, and BBL. Further, Ajinkya Rahane will get game time and also mentor young talents.

At present, KKR have a huge task on their heads to identify their next captain ahead of IPL 2027.

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