Venkatesh Iyer snubs, KKR wants to make Ajinkya Rahane captain for IPL 2025: Report

Kolkata Knight Riders’ failure to bring back captain Shreyas Iyer in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction has given the franchise bosses a lot to think about. The name of Venkatesh Iyer, the franchise’s top buy at INR 23.5 Crore in the mega auction, has emerged for the leadership role but it seems like the 2024 champions have another player in mind. According to a report, Ajinkya Rahane is the No. 1 candidate to lead KKR in the 2025 IPL season. According to reports, Rahane, who was bought at the auction for his base price of INR 1.5 crore, was bought with the only option, to lead the team.

Rahane is a proven leader, having captained several teams in different formats in various competitions. He also led the Indian team when there were no full-time captains and is currently the captain of the Ranji Trophy team in Mumbai. However, in the IPL, Rahane led Rajasthan Royals only in the 2018 and 2019 seasons.

KKR, which failed to buy another captaincy candidate at the auction, is reportedly ready to hand Rahane the responsibility.

“Yes, right now it is 90% confirmed that Ajinkya will be the new KKR captain. He was bought by KKR specifically with the aim of being a viable captaincy option,” a source was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

Earlier, Venaktesh Iyer himself threw his hat into the captaincy ring. After being bought by the franchise for INR 23.75 crore, he made the big pitch to the bosses.

“I have always believed that captaincy is just a buzzword, but leadership is about creating an environment where everyone feels like they can play for this team and contribute. If I was given the responsibility, I would be happy to do it,” Venkatesh had told channel JioCinema.

“I had the opportunity to captain the team in the absence of Nitish Rana when he was unfortunately injured and I was also the vice-captain,” he had claimed.

KKR could look to appoint Rahane as full-time captain for the 2025 season and give Venaktesh the vice-captaincy. Such a structure would also allow Rahane to groom the all-rounder as a full-time captain in the future.

The only other IPL team the 36-year-old previously captained was Rajasthan Royals in 2018 and 2019. The team won just nine of the 24 games during that period.