Ajinkya Rahane recently announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, and the veteran player recalled an incident involving young India batter Yashasvi Jaiswal. Both players have shared a dressing room in domestic cricket, with the senior player also leading the Mumbai side. The two haven’t enjoyed each other’s company, and a major incident happened during the 2022 Duleep Trophy final. Jaiswal was exchanging words with South Zone’s T Ravi Teja despite being warned by the officials. Rahane, who was the captain of West Zone, tried to calm down the southpaw, but his words were ignored, leading to Jaiswal’s removal from the ground. Rahane instructed his teammate to leave the field.
Rahane has revealed that he saved the batter from a certain four-match ban.
“Sledging is a part and parcel of the game, and it is fun,” Rahane said in an interview with The Indian Express. “However, the situation was getting out of hand. I know Yashasvi must have felt bad. We have seen players getting banned and their time changes. One opportunity missed and your time changes. You never know what will happen next. I sensed something big was going to happen as both players were going out of hand and not willing to end the fight, and it was my job to control my teammate,” said Rahane.
He mentioned that match referee Vengalil Narayanan Kutty was not expecting Rahane to take action against his player.
“The match referee was ready to ban him for four matches, and the letter was already written. He came up to me and showed the letter. ‘This is the letter, but I am tearing it up because of what you did to your teammate.’ He tore the letter, and I was happy that Jaiswal survived a certain match ban and he is now playing for India. What would have happened had I not stepped in? Maybe he wouldn’t have played after that. He is a top performer, and I don’t want to take credit away from him. But you never know about the consequences,” he added.
Jaiswal was named the Player of the Match for his 265-run knock as West Zone defeated the South Zone in the final. He made his India debut in the 2023 Test series against the West Indies.
Rahane said that he learned to respect the umpires and officials after playing for Mumbai, and he led keeping that in mind.
‘Mistakes happen, but there is a limit for everything. It was my instinctive reaction, and I told him to leave the field. He must have felt bad, and there was a possibility of him thinking negatively about me. But I think it was a good thing for him. I told him to return to the dressing room for a few overs and come back after putting on his head,” he revealed.
According to reports in 2025, Jaiswal wanted to leave Mumbai for Goa because of his relationship with Rahane. The young batter also kicked Rahane’s kit bag after the latter questioned his commitment to Mumbai.