The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has announced that Ajinkya Rahane will be leading the side for the upcoming IPL 2025 season.
He will be succeeding Shreyas Iyer who joined Punjab Kings for a price of INR 26.75 crore. Meanwhile, KKR’s expensive player Venkatesh Iyer has been named as Rahane’s deputy.
Rahane’s return as IPL captain marks a remarkable turnaround. Initially, he was unsold after a lacklustre stint with CSK, KKR secured him for his base price of INR 1.50 crore in the accelerated auction round.
Since then, Rahane has been in the headlines after a sensational form leading Mumbai to Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy glory as the tournament’s top scorer with 469 runs at an impressive average of 58.62 and a blazing strike of 164.56.
🚨 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
“It’s an honour 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,” said Ajinkya Rahane.
This will be the second time the 36 year old to join KKR, having previously played for the franchise before the 2022 season where he played only seven games that year and managed only 133 runs.
However, after joining CSK in the next season, he made an impressive comeback with scoring 326 runs at a strike rate of 172.49.
Ajinkya Rahane has captaincy experience in the tournament which he has played in since the first season in 2008.
He also led Rising Pune Giants in one fixture in the 2017 season and was then the skipper of Rajasthan Royals in the subsequent season for 24 matches.
In the 2019 season, he was replaced by Steve Smith at the helm midway through the campaign. KKR has won three IPL titles in 2012, 2014 and 2022 and also finished as runner-up in 2021.
KKR will begin their IPL 2025 campaign against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on March 22 at Eden Gardens.
