Ajinkya Rahane Announced As KKR's Captain For IPL 2025
Ajinkya Rahane will lead Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2025, replacing Shreyas Iyer. Venkatesh Iyer will be his deputy.
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have announced that Ajinkya Rahane will lead the franchise in IPL 2025. He’ll be the eighth captain of the franchise, replacing Shreyas Iyer, who was released after leading the team to its third title last year. All-rounder Venkatesh Iyer will be Rahane’s deputy.
The three-time champions signed Rahane for his base price of Rs. 1.5 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction. This is the Mumbaikar’s second stint in a KKR shirt after he spent one year in Kolkata in 2022. Venkatesh, who was signed for 23.75 crore (the third-highest-paid player) will see a second season as a vice-captain after a brief stint as Shreyas’s deputy in the first half of the last season.
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Making the announcement, Venky Mysore, CEO of KKR 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."
Accepting the leadership role, Rahane said, “It’s an honor 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."
Rahane, 36, is now the oldest captain in IPL 2025 (excluding Delhi Capitals, who are yet to announce). KKR will become the third team he’ll lead in the league after Rajasthan Royals and Rising Pune Supergiant, becoming only the second player to do a triple-up.
Apart from that, he has led Mumbai to Ranji Trophy titles twice and India to one of its greatest Border-Gavaskar Trophy titles in 2020-21. He had some question marks over his T20 game until last season but allayed some concerns by ending the previous edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as the highest run-scorer with 469 runs at an average of 58.62 and a strike rate of 164.56.
He’ll still need to put some concerns about his captaincy to bed as before IPL 2025, he has a IPL loss percentage of 64% as the skipper. KKR will begin their IPL 2025 campaign with the season opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Eden Gardens on Saturday, March 22.
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