Here are top five knocks of Ajinkya Rahane on his birthday.

Ajinkya Rahane said that it will take him around six to eight weeks to fully recover from the hamstring injury that ruled him out of IPL 2022 and the final Test against England in July.

India vs England test will begin in July and the match will be a part of a series that started last year. India currently lead the Test series 2-1. 

Rahane, who recently scored a century in a 2021-22 Ranji Trophy encounter, is now gearing up for the upcoming Indian Premier League where he will play for Kolkata Knight Riders.

India and Sri Lanka will lock horns in a two-match Test series, beginning Friday in Mohali. Rahane and Pujara have been dropped for the Tests and it will be interesting to see who comes into the side. 

Rahane did score a much-needed hundred (129) in their opener against Saurashtra, but that could not save his place in the Test squad for the upcoming two-match series against Sri Lanka.

Rohit Sharma was appointed as the new Test captain of the Indian men's team while veterans Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were dropped from the Sri Lanka series.

Rahane, playing for Mumbai, hit 100 in 212 balls to help his side recover from a precarious position.

Indian batters Cheteshwar Pujara and Saurabh Tiwary, base price Rs 50 lakh each, went unsold.

As regular captain Virat Kohli flew out of Australia, leaving in his wake the disappointment of the humiliating loss in the opener at Adelaide, Rahane took over the reins in the most difficult of circumstances.

The 41-time Ranji champions and domestic heavyweights Mumbai have been placed in Elite Group D along with Saurashtra, Odisha and Goa.

After a string of poor performances, the under-fire duo of Pujara and Rahane came good with the bat, scoring half-centuries in India’s second innings of the second Test.

Pujara and Rahane had been in wretched form in the run-up to this second innings and their 111-run stand formed the cornerstone of India setting a target of 240-run for the Proteas.

Rahane admitted his disappointment from the dismissals in the first Test at Centurion. Rahane made stroke-filled 48 and 20 in both innings of the Centurion Test.

Rahane got off to a brilliant start on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test, as he remained unbeaten on 40, smashing eight boundaries and also made a crucial 73-run partnership with centurion KL Rahul in the final session.

If Rahane is stripped of Test vice-captaincy, senior batter Rohit Sharma is the front runner for the job.

The BCCI and the team management found an "exit route" which was honourable for both the distinguished senior cricketers as everyone associated wanted to be subtle while taking a tough decision, at least for this Test.

Rahane, who has been short of runs for a while now, also praised debutant Shreyas Iyer but did not divulge who would make way for Virat Kohli in the next Test in Mumbai.

In Test matches this year, Rahane has now scored 411 runs in 21 innings at an average of 19.57, with just two half-centuries. A lot was expected of him in the first Test but Rahane registered scores of 35 and 4, resulting in his Test career average going below 40.

Rahane was done in by low bounce when he was expecting the ball from a near 7 feet tall Jamieson to rear up. With 12 Tests without a big score (India might not bat twice), Rahane's record is not reading too well for a stand-in skipper.