By Karan Agrawal 
Kolkata Knight Riders have appointed Ajinkya Rahane as the team’s captain for the upcoming IPL season scheduled to begin from March 22. The defending champions will take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the opening fixture, with Rahane at the helm and Venkatesh Iyer acting as his deputy. Rahane was in tremendous form in the 2024/25 domestic season, as the right-hander scored 469 runs at a strike rate of 164.56 in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The IPL 2025 auction has given a new lease of life to Rahane, who went unsold in the first round of the auction and was only picked in the accelerated round. Reacting to his appointment as the captain of KKR, 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.”
The Decision
Rahane, who was a part of KKR in IPL 2022, managed to score only 133 runs in seven matches and was not retained by the franchise before the IPL auction. But as they say, one man’s loss is another man’s opportunity and the saying was true for CSK, who picked up Rahane in the 2023 IPL auction which proved to be the turning point for Rahane the batter in T20s as he took the 2023 season by storm by scoring 326 runs at a strike rate of 172.49 and guided CSK to its fifth title. The former Indian captain wasn’t able to replicate the form in the next addition and scored only 242 runs in 13 matches as a result, he did not find takers in the initial part of the IPL 2025 auction but was picked up by KKR in the accelerated round.
The Deputy
Venkatesh Iyer, who has been a part of KKR since 2021 and is only the second KKR batter to score an IPL century, will be Rahane’s deputy. KKR broke the bank to retain Iyer’s services as the batter became the fourth most expensive buy in the history of IPL. Talking about the change in leadership, KKR CEO 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 defense of our title.”