Kolkata Knight Riders, defending champions, have named Ajinkya Rahane captain for the season of IPL 2025. Although Venkatesh Iyer and Sunil Narine were in competition, team management supported Rahane’s experience. The Mumbai cricketer wasn’t KKR’s top selection player in the IPL auction, but his signing made the team seem to be desperate following the loss of potential captaincy possibilities.
Venky Mysore, CEO of KKR, though doesn’t care for the noise and remarked that while Venkatesh’s name was mentioned, they wanted more ‘maturity and experience,’ therefore Rahane ultimately got the last thumbs up. The all-rounder was notably purchased in the IPL auction for INR 23.75 crore and appointed vice-captain of the team.
IPL is fairly relentless competition. Though captaincy is demanding on a youth, we clearly regard Venkatesh Iyer very much. People have lots of problems with it [handling captaincy] as they advance. It takes a very steady hand, a great deal of maturity and experience which Mysore felt Ajinkya brings to the team,” Mysore told ESPNcricinfo.
He has featured in 185 IPL matches as well as 200 games worldwide in various formats. He has fronted domestic India, fronted Mumbai, and headed in IPL. He has also participated apart from IPL season one. Everything is great. “Appointing Rahane as captain should come as no surprise in the least,” he said.
Mysore reminded captaincy is mostly about directing the squad off the field rather than leading them on the field. He observed that the captain has many expectations because he interacts with the team’s diversity and then performs media appearances. He feels therefore that, particularly after winning a championship, Rahane is the ideal candidate to head the team next time.
With the captain, IPL will be expected as long as there is handling of media and other matters. At the same time, a new cycle reveals team diversity; a successful captain must spend on establishing relationships with everyone. Coaching sessions, meetings with bowlers, meetings with batters, coach interaction, and other preparatory work are all there to consume. He said, “From that point of view we are fortunate to have got Ajinkya.”
