Kolkata Knight Riders have more or less decided on their new captain for IPL 2025 and it will be Ajinkya Rahane. The defending champions bought the veteran atter for a price of 1.5 crores and he is expected now to lead the charge for the Kolkata outfits. While KKR does have quite a few members who are captaincy materials – we take a look as to why Ajinkya Rahane would be a good captain for the side.
KKR didn’t retain their past captain Shreyas Iyer after failing to reach an understanding with the team. As a result, the team is currently without a captain. Venkatesh Iyer too is a captaincy candidate after the side decided to break the bank and spill 23.75 crores on the top-order batter.
Rahane’s Leadership Credentials
Ajinkya Rahane is a well-established batter, who is known for his leadership capabilities. Under his captaincy, the India Cricket Team won the Border Gavaskar Trophy in 2020-21, and the Mumbai Ranji side too has been victorious. In the past he has also lead Rajasthan Royals in IPL and thus will be keen to play his new role for KKR.
While Ajinkya Rahane is unlikely to have any future in the India Cricket Team, he can be a good captain in IPL. Despite being an able batter in red-ball cricket, Rahane revived his T20 career after moving to CSK a couple of years back.
Potential Impact on KKR
If Ajinkya Rahane is selected as the captain of KKR, it means the team management will put their faith in experience over youth. And it works well for KKR who will out to defend their title. Furthermore, Rahane being the captain means it will work as a possible grooming experience for Venkatesh Iyer in the latter years to come.
