Rahane joins Hampshire for County Championship

London [UK], Apr 26 (ANI): Indian Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane will join Hampshire for the County Championship season which gets underway next month.

On Thursday, Hampshire county confirmed Rahane's decision to join the team as an overseas player, ESPN Cricinfo reported.
The 30-year-old batsman is the first Indian player to play for Hampshire and he will be replacing Aiden Markram, who finishes his stint with the team at the end of Royal One-Day cup group stage in early May to join South Africa's World Cup squad.
"I am excited to be the first Indian to play for Hampshire, a county which has a glowing reputation. I hope to score runs and win as a team and would like to thank BCCI for allowing me to play," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Rahane as saying.
Rahane was overlooked for India's fifteen-member World Cup team. The player will be making his county debut and he will feature in eight matches throughout May, June and the start of July.
"We're delighted to attract a player of Ajinkya's class and with both Aiden and Dimuth selected for the World Cup, we were obviously in the market for a top-order batsman. Ajinkya showed an interest early on and the way things have played out it's a great opportunity to get him over - we're really excited to have him with us," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Hampshire Director of Cricket, Giles White as saying.
Rahane has played 56 Tests and 90 ODIs for India. The player has scored 3,488 runs in the Test format with an average of 40.55 with nine centuries and 17 fifties.(ANI)