Rahim was appointed vice-captain for Bangladesh's tour of Zimbabwe in August 2009. The position was vacated as the previous holder, Shakib Al Hasan, was filling-in as captain for the injured Mashrafe Mortaza. Bangladesh won the five match ODI series 4–1. In the final ODI, Rahim scored 98, beating his previous highest score in list A matches of 58, to help his team to victory. With 169 runs in the series at an average of 56.33, Rahim finishes the tour as Bangladesh's fourth-highest run scorer.