New Delhi: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) brought an end to all speculations as they appointed senior Indian batter Ajinkya Rahane as their new captain for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Rahane will be replacing his Mumbai teammate Shreyas Iyer, who was released by KKR ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction last year and joined Punjab Kings for a huge sum of Rs 26.50 crore.
Many believed the defending champions might hand over the leadership responsibilities to Venkatesh Iyer, who has been with the franchise for quite some time and was their top buy at the auction last year. Venkatesh was bought back by KKR for a whopping Rs 23.75 crore, making him the 3rd most expensive signing in the IPL 2025 mega auction.
However, the KKR team management decided to hand over the reins to Rahane who is far more experienced and has led the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL in the past. This will be Rahane’s second spell with KKR as he has previously been part of the franchise for a single season in IPL 2022. Rahane managed only 133 runs in 7 matches in the season and was released the following year.
🚨 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 – Ajinkya Rahane named captain of KKR. Venkatesh Iyer named Vice-Captain of KKR for TATA IPL 2025. pic.twitter.com/F6RAccqkmW
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) March 3, 2025
KKR captain went unsold in 1st round of IPL 2025 auction
Interestingly, Rahane, the newly-appointed KKR skipper went unsold in the first round of the IPL 2025 mega auction last year. He was later picked up by KKR at his base price of Rs 1.5 crore. The move from KKR reeked of desperation as they failed to land any potential captaincy candidates at the auction after letting go of Shreyas Iyer.
KKR’s decision to release Shreyas had shocked many last year as he led them to IPL glory after a decade. Iyer played a key role in KKR’s title triumph both as captain and as a batter with 351 runs from 14 innings at an average of 39 and a strike rate of 146.86. Shreyas will be leading Punjab Kings next season after being appointed as the captain of the franchise.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have appointed senior Indian batter Ajinkya Rahane as captain for IPL 2025. All-rounder Venkatesh Iyer has been named vice-captain for the upcoming season. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
