Ajinkya Rahane is likely set to captain Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2025 after being bought for Rs 1.5 crore at the auction. Despite being dropped as Mumbai's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy captain, Rahane's leadership experience is highly regarded,

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are in a dilemma after failing to secure Shreyas Iyer in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction. Venkatesh Iyer, who was their top buy at INR 23.5 crore, was considered for captaincy.

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are believed to be eyeing Ajinkya Rahane as their captain for the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. This comes after the franchise failed to acquire their IPL 2024 title-winning captain Shreyas Iyer at the recent mega auction.

During his captaincy tenure, Rahane had ordinary returns with the bat. As a skipper in the IPL, he scored 583 runs in 25 games at an average of 25 and strike rate of 122, hitting only two half-centuries. In 25 matches as a captain, Rahane smashed only nine sixes.

Ajinkya Rahane was asked to hand over Mumbai's T20 captaincy to Shreyas Iyer ahead of SMAT, ironically "Aju" will now lead KKR after Iyer helped them win the IPL trophy last season

The 36-year-old batter, who was bought by KKR at his base price of INR 1.5 crore in the recent auction, is set to take on the leadership role following the departure of Shreyas Iyer.

This is going to be his second stint for the reigning champions. If reports are to be believed, Rahane has emerged as the frontrunner to lead KKR in the upcoming edition of the IPL.

Rahane, who had previously played for KKR in 2022, had been bought at his base price of Rs 1.5 crore by defending champions during the final round of bidding in the IPL mega auction in Jeddah.

Venkatesh Iyer was tipped to become the Kolkata Knight Riders captain in IPL 2025 after the India all-rounder was bought for a staggering ₹23.75 crore in the mega auction.

This comes after KKR bought Rahane at his base price of ₹1.5 crore at the recently concluded IPL auction in Jeddah. A source close to TOI claimed there's a 90% chance of Rahane leading KKR this season.

After splurging hefty money on him during the mega auction, it was expected that KKR would appoint Venakesh Iyer as the skipper of the side for the 2025 IPL season. However, in a surprise move, the Kolkata-based franchise is set to appoint an experienced player as the skipper.