IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were left in a spot of bother after they failed to acquire the services of their last season’s captain Shreyas Iyer. Instead, the franchise went all-out on batter Venkatesh Iyer, who has captained KKR in the past and ended up buying him for a whopping fee of INR 23.5 crore.
It was expected that Venkatesh will be the one to lead KKR in the upcoming IPL season, however it seems like the reigning champions have another player in mind to take up that role.
As per a report, Ajinkya Rahane is the number 1 candidate to lead KKR in the IPL 2025 season. Rahane, bought in the auction for his base price of INR 1.5 crore, was reportedly purchased with the sole option of leading the team.
Rahane has previously captained multiple teams in different formats across competitions. He has also led the Indian team in the absence of full-time skippers and is also the current captain of Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy team. Even in the IPL, Rahane led the Rajasthan Royals side in the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
“Yes, at the moment it’s 90% confirmed that Ajinkya will be the new KKR captain. He was bought by KKR specifically for the purpose of being a viable captaincy option,” a source was quoted as saying by the Times of India.
The Kolkata-based franchise can hand over the captaincy to Rahane and elect Venkatesh as the vice-captain as well. This process will help Rahane groom the all-rounder to become a leader in the future.
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