Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) may have assembled a good team, but they don’t have a strong contender for captaincy. One would think they’ll make one of the highest-paid players, Venkatesh Iyer (Rs 23.75 crore) or Rinku Singh (Rs 18 crore), their skipper for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. But that might not be the case. There is a strong possibility that Sunil Narine, who has been with KKR since 2012, will be named their captain.
Sunil Narine, KKR’s best
Although most franchises shy away from making an overseas player their captain, with Narine it’s completely different. He’s KKR’s most-capped player by a long shot. He’s featured in 186 matches for KKR, with the next best being Andre Russell (126). Narine also happens to be their 7th highest-scorer despite not being a batter for the majority of his career and has taken almost 200 wickets for KKR (including the Champions League).
True Knight Rider
He’s also involved with the Knight Riders in three other leagues. He also plays for the Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League, the Los Angeles Knight Riders (LAKR) in Major League Cricket, and the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (ADKR) in ILT20. One may say he’s the first global cricketer who’s signed a contract with one franchise.
Narine’s played 526 T20 matches, 293 of which have come for the Knight Riders. He’s the true Knight Rider. But it doesn’t end here. From years of showing loyalty, the all-rounder was trusted with the leadership of two of these teams. He was named captain of the LAKR in 2023 and ADKR in 2024.
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Why Narine’s better suited than Rinku or Venkatesh as KKR captain
Narine’s record for neither is great, but he has an experience bank of over 500 T20Is, and he’s also privy to facing disappointment as captain. As an opener and frontline bowler, he’s involved in the thick of things more than most. Also, one can’t forget that neither Venkatesh Iyer nor Rinku Singh has any experience of leading an IPL team.
Both Indian stars aren’t even leading their teams in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2024-25. Venky, who represents Madhya Pradesh, is currently playing under Rajat Patidar while Bhuvneshwar Kumar leads Rinku for Uttar Pradesh. Apart from being younger, they don’t really have anything in their favour. It might be that KKR handed their captaincy to their most experienced and bankable player of the last decade.
Sunil Narine’s captaincy record for Knight Riders in franchise cricket
| Team | Span | Matches | Won | Lost | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Knight Riders | 2023-2024 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 27.27 |
| Abu Dhabi Knight Riders | 2024 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 40 |
| Total | 2023-24 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 33.33 |
