Kolkata Knight Riders have a golden opportunity to field two specialist openers in IPL 2025. For a long time now, the defending champions have banked on Sunil Narine as one of their openers alongside a specialist. While the trick has worked wonders for them, they have a better option this time and that is none other than captain Ajinkya Rahane.
Why Rahane should open for KKR in IPL 2025
Quinton de Kock is most likely to be picked ahead of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and is expected to open the innings for KKR. The best partner for the Proteas star will be Rahane. The Mumbai batter had a sensational Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) season in 2024. He finished with 469 runs from 9 matches, with 5 half-centuries and averaging 58.62. The best part is all his knocks came as an opening batter for Mumbai.
Rahane displayed stellar consistency at the top-order for Mumbai in the tournament. He registered scores of 37, 98, 84, 95, 22, DNB, 68, 52, 13. Further, he has been in good form off-late, amassing good amount of runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Ranji Trophy as well. Hence, it would be wise for KKR to capitalize on his form and allow him to replicate his SMAT heroics in IPL 2025.
The veteran’s redemption arc
Rahane was consistent in delivering with the bat from 2012 to 2019, amassing 300+ runs in each season. However, his form saw a dip that lasted for nearly three seasons, until he joined CSK. The veteran’s resurgence was simply breathtaking as fans got to witness a new and aggressive side of Rahane. The Mumbai batter showed the world that he wasn’t just a Test batter with his fiery knocks for CSK across two seasons. He finished 2023 and 2024 seasons with 326 and 242 runs respectively.
| Mat | Runs | Avg | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 185 | 4642 | 30.14 | 123.42 | 2 | 30 | 478 | 103 |
New journey begins!
KKR managed to lay their hands on a steal deal, bagging Rahane for his base price of Rs 1.50 cr at the mega auction. Not only did they find a matured captain in the star but have also added another prolific batter to their star-studded squad. Rahane is now tasked with leading KKR’s title defense in IPL 2025.
