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Ajinkya Rahane to captain Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2025
Ajinkya Rahane to captain Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2025
All-rounder Venkatesh Iyer, named as vice captain of the team.
Champions Kolkata Knight Riders have got their new Captain and that would be Ajinkya Rahane for the IPL 2025. Whereas Venkatest Iyer would be the Vice-Captain.
Regarding this, Rahane said that it would be his honour to lead the KKR team, as he thinks that this is the most successful franchise of IPL. He told about the squad that it is balanced and brilliant. He is really excited to work with the entire team and is ready taken up the real challenges.
At the IPL mega auction last November, it seemed like KKR didn't initially plan to include Ajinkya Rahane in their team. When his name was first mentioned on day one of the auction, no one bid for him. However, on the second day, just before the auction ended, KKR bought him at his base price of INR 1.5 crore during the accelerated round.
While sharing the excitement, KKR’s chief executive Venky Mysore said that they are happy that someone like Ajinkya Rahane gets their expertise to the team. "Venkatesh Iyer has been an important player for KKR and brings strong leadership skills. The team is confident that he and Rahane will work well together as they start defending their title.
This will be Rahane's second time with KKR. He played for them in 2022, scoring only 133 runs in seven matches with a strike rate of 103.90. In 2023, Rahane performed much better at Chennai Super Kings (CSK), scoring 326 runs with a strike rate of 172.48. However, in IPL 2024, he wasn't as successful and was released by CSK after scoring 242 runs with a strike rate of 123.46.
Rahane's leadership is highly valued. He was the captain when India won a Test series in Australia in 2020-21 and has led Mumbai to several titles, most recently the 2024-25 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In that tournament, he was the highest run-scorer with 469 runs at a strike rate of 164.56 and an average of over 58.
Rahane's previous IPL captaincy includes 25 matches: one for Rising Pune Super Giant in 2017 and 24 for Rajasthan Royals in 2018 and 2019, until Steven Smith replaced him midway through the 2019 season.
Iyer, who wasn't one of KKR's six retained players before November's mega auction, was bought back for INR 23.75 crore. He was the fourth-most expensive purchase in IPL auction history.
KKR is the only IPL team Iyer has played for. He joined them in 2021 and was a key player in their title-winning campaign last year, scoring 370 runs at a strike rate of 158.79. In a recent interview, he said he was "definitely ready" to lead KKR if given the chance.
KKR will host the season opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Eden Gardens on March 22 because they won the title in 2024. They defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad in last year's final under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer, who is now captain of Punjab Kings (PBKS).
With KKR announcing Rahane as their captain, the only team yet to name a captain is Delhi Capitals (DC). Rishabh Pant led DC last year but wasn't retained and will now lead Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in IPL 2025.
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