Rahane seeks BCCI permission to play county cricket

Ajinkya Rahane has written to the BCCI, seeking permission to play in the County Championship in England.

Ajinkya Rahane in action during the five-Test series between India and England last English summer.

Ajinkya Rahane has written to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to grant him permission to feature in county cricket for Hampshire.

In an application written to the board CEO Rahul Johri -- which has also been forwarded to the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) -- Rahane has sought permission to play four-day games for Hampshire from May to July.

Confirming the development, a senior BCCI official told

Sportstar that a final call will be taken by the CoA. He, however, insisted that the batsman should be granted permission as there is no international commitment at that time of the year. Last year, Virat Kohli had also been given the go-ahead to turn up for Surrey. However, an injury dashed his dreams of playing for the London-based team.

“Rahane isn’t part of the World Cup team, so he does not have any international commitment at that time. So, if he wants to play four-day cricket, ideally there should not be any problems,” the Board official said.

Cheteshwar Pujara too played for Yorkshire last season when the Indian Premier League was in full flow. Pujara already has a three-year contract with Yorkshire and is set to play this time too. There are talks that a few other players could be given permission to feature in county cricket, however, there is no confirmation. Even Ishant Sharma had featured for Sussex and returned an improved bowler after training with former Australia bowler Jason Gillespie.

With the Board granting permission to players in the past, Rahane could be hopeful of featuring for Hampshire.