He steadied a ship that many feared was sinking. When Ajinkya Rahane led a depleted, injury-ravaged Indian side to a 2-1 series win in Australia in 2020-21 — chasing down the deficit after losing the first Test at Adelaide — he wrote one of the most stirring chapters in Indian cricket history. Now, with Rahane having announced his retirement from Test cricket, Congress MP Dr. Shashi Tharoor has offered one of the most considered tributes to the man from Mumbai.

Tharoor's tribute: 'India's best-ever Test captain'

Posting on Friday, 31 July 2026, Tharoor wrote that Rahane was 'hugely talented, immensely capable and utterly reliable,' and went further than most in awarding him a singular distinction — calling him 'India's best-ever Test captain.' He argued that Rahane 'deserved an extended run in the job' after his heroic come-from-behind series win in Australia 2020-21, a sentiment that resonates with a large section of Indian cricket followers who felt the captaincy was never truly handed to him on a sustained basis.

Tharoor, a former UN Under-Secretary-General and Union Minister who is also a noted cricket enthusiast, did not shy away from acknowledging the bittersweet texture of Rahane's career. 'He will be remembered for never having achieved the greatness that was predicted for him in his early days,' Tharoor wrote — a frank, affectionate reckoning that few public figures would risk. But he closed on a generous note: 'His story is much more than one of unfulfilled potential. It is that of a man who left cricket better for his participation in it.'

The Australia 2020-21 win that defined a career

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21 remains the defining exhibit in any case for Rahane's captaincy. India arrived in Australia without Virat Kohli for three of the four Tests, and were bowled out for 36 runs — their lowest-ever Test total — in the first match at Adelaide. What followed under Rahane's interim leadership was a remarkable recovery: wins at Melbourne and Brisbane, the latter a fortress Australia had not lost at in over three decades. The series win, achieved with a squad that read more like a second-string XI by the final Test, is now a benchmark in India's overseas record.

That performance sparked a genuine debate about whether Rahane should be installed as full-time Test captain. He was not. His form dipped in subsequent series, and he was eventually phased out of the Test setup — a trajectory Tharoor's tribute implicitly mourns without ever saying so directly.

A cricketer who left the game richer

Rahane's retirement draws a line under a career that was never quite linear. A classical right-handed batsman with a particular gift for big-match temperament, he was at his best when the stakes were highest — precisely the kind of player teams build around but rarely give enough to. Tharoor's phrase, 'a reassuring presence,' captures something essential: Rahane's value was often felt more than it was measured in averages.

In a cricket-obsessed country where political figures routinely salute the sport's heroes, Tharoor's tribute stands out for its honesty. He does not pretend the story ended as it should have. He simply says it mattered — and that, for a player of Rahane's quiet dignity, may be tribute enough.