Reports | Ajinkya Rahane to leave Rajasthan Royals as IPL Transfer Window reaches business end

Rahane has almost joined Delhi Capitals after ending an eight-year stint with Rajasthan Royals and the move will be completed before the transfer window closes on Thursday. Rahane has been one of the consistent performers for the Royals over the years and this decision has raised a few eyebrows as he used to give solidity to the Royals' batting line-up. However, he was unhappy as he was removed from the captaincy eight games into the previous season and the reigns were handed over to Steve Smith who is likely to be named as the permanent captain.

The Delhi-based franchise was in talks with the Royals about Rahane for a while and when BCCI President Sourav Ganguly was the advisor for the Capitals, he always considered Rahane as an all-format player and rated him highly. It will be interesting to see who does Rahane replace in the Delhi line-up as they already have many top-order players like Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw. The Royals are set to get two players from the Capitals in return but they have not been named yet.

Rahane has scored a mammoth 3820 runs in the IPL at a strike rate of 122 and will provide much-needed experience to the youngsters in the Delhi side like Shaw, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant. He will also work with head coach Ricky Ponting and personal coach Pravin Amre who is also a talent scout for the Capitals.