Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 21 (ANI): Ahead of the 2025-26 domestic season, Indian middle-order batter Ajinkya Rahane has decided to step down from the captaincy of the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team.

Rahane took to social media on Thursday and made this decision.

'Captaining and winning championships with the Mumbai team has been an absolute honour. With a new domestic season ahead, I believe it's the right time to groom a new leader. And hence I've decided not to continue in the captaincy role. I remain fully committed to giving my best as a player and will continue my journey with MCA to help us win more trophies. Looking forward to the season,' Rahane wrote on Instagram.

Under Rahane's leadership, the Mumbai team went on to clinch the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy title after a long gap of nine years. This was the Mumbai team's 42nd title.

Earlier in the month, Rahane, along with veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara, missed out, while Shardul Thakur was announced as the skipper of a star-studded West Zone squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy.

The competition, to be held from August 28 to September 15, will mark the start of the Indian domestic season 2025-26. Last year, the tournament shifted from its usual zonal format to having four different Indian squads, A, B, C and D, selected by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). International names like Axar Patel, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Arshdeep Singh, and Kuldeep Yadav were among the players who took part in the tournament. This year, the tournament will revert to its zonal format, with six teams playing: North, South, East, West, Central and North East, picked by the selectors of the Ranji teams in each zone, as per Wisden.

The omission of Rahane and Pujara, both 37, has perhaps put a full stop to their hopes of a return to the Indian side. The management moved on from the pair following the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final loss against Australia back in 2023. The two players had an indifferent run of form for the preceding two or three years.

In the last Ranji Trophy season, Rahane and Pujara scored 467 runs and 402 runs at an average of 35.9 and 40.2, respectively. Both of them got a century and fifty each.

In 103 Tests for India, Pujara has scored 7,195 runs in 176 innings at an average of 44.36, with 19 centuries and 35 fifties. Rahane has scored 5,077 runs in 85 Tests and 144 innings at an average of 38.46, with 12 centuries and 26 fifties. (ANI)