Ajinkya Rahane to Take Over the Captaincy for Kolkata Knight Riders in Ipl 2025

The defending Champions, Kolkata Knight Riders have announced their captain for the 18th edition of IPL. Ajinkya Rahane will now lead KKR in IPL 2025. Shreyas Iyer who led KKR to their 3rd IPL Trophy was released by the management ahead of this year’s IPL auction brought by Punjab Kings for 26.75 Crores INR 2nd highest bid in the history of IPL. Though Rahane went unsold in the 1st Round of the auction he was then brought by KKR on his base price of 1.5 Crores INR. 

The appointment of Ajinkya Rahane has been a little surprise as the speculation about captaincy was around Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh, also Venkatesh Iyer was the highest-paid player for KKR. Also, Rahane’s performance was not that good enough in last year’s IPL for CSK. 

After the appointment, Rahane said “It’s an honour to be asked to lead KKR, which has been one of the most successful franchises in the IPL. I think we have an excellent and balanced squad. I look forward to working with everyone and taking up the challenge of defending our title”. 

 CEO of KKR Venky Mysore said “We are delighted to have someone like Ajinkya Rahane, who brings his experience and maturity as a leader. Also, Venkatesh Iyer has been a franchise player for KKR and brings a lot of leadership qualities. We are confident that they will combine well as we start the defence of our title,” 

Rahane was in good form in the domestic season as he was the leading scorer for Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with 326 runs with a strike rate of 172.49. He played a crucial part in the title-winning for his team.

Rahane has been captain of Rajasthan Royals for 25 matches. In those 25 matches, he only got victory in 9 matches and defeat in 16 matches.

KKR has also announced Venkatesh Iyer as the Vice Captain for this season of IPL to get some game time as Captain before appointing him as full-time captain of KKR. He has been brought by this franchise for 23.75 crores. During the auction RCB and KKR went all-out for him but in the end KKR brought him.