Ajinkya Rahane will lead KKR as the defending champions open their campaign on Saturday against RCB.
The Kolkata Knight Riders appointed Ajinkya Rahane as their captain earlier this month, following months of speculations over the successor to Shreyas Iyer, who was released by the franchise ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. While Iyer joined Punjab Kings, KKR splurged a mammoth INR 23.75 crore to bring back Venkatesh Iyer to the squad, sparking speculations that the all-rounder from Madhya Pradesh could lead the side.
Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders’ captain Ajinkya Rahane during a training session ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, at Eden Gardens(HT_PRINT)
However, KKR entrusted the experienced Rahane as the franchise aims to defend its title; however, former India opener Aakash Chopra believes that naming the India star as captain could’ve been an “afterthought.”
Talking on his official YouTube channel, Chopra did support the decision but stated that Rahane’s price tag – which is the least among all captains – didn’t suggest that KKR aimed for him as their skipper at the auction.
“Ajinkya Rahane, on the other hand, has captained in 25 games to date. So it’s not that he is a newbie. He recently took his team to a win in the SMAT (Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy) and has been Mumbai and India’s captain. He has lifted the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He has a lot of experience but just think about the things that he needs to prove,” Chopra said.
“We were seeing how expensive each captain was sold. No other captain was sold for single digits. They were mostly retained, and those who weren’t were sold very expensive. However, he was bought for INR 1.50 crore in the end. It seemed like it was an afterthought to give the captaincy to Ajju,” he observed.
Never easy
Chopra further stated that it would be a challenge for Rahane to lead a winning team, calling it a “tougher job” than winning it for the first time.
“The biggest challenge for Ajju is that it’s a winning team. Where further will you take a winning team? However, the expectation will be that they should win this time as they won last time, or should reach the final at least. That’s never easy because retaining the crown is far tougher than winning it for the first time. So that will be a massive question,” he added.
KKR will open the IPL 2025 season on Saturday as the side takes on Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Kolkata.
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