Title defender Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have announced Ajinkya Rahane as their captain for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2025. Earlier, Rahane was left unsold on the first day of the auction event held in November 2024, but in the accelerated round, KKR owners accepted him at a whopping price of INR 1.5 Crore, marking his second journey with KKR after 2022. In 2024, Rahane could not be impressive for CSK, deciding to drop him after gaining a strike rate of 172.48 in 2023 for MS Dhoni’s side. Meanwhile, KKR could not retain IPL winning captain Shreyas Iyer as the franchise looked to buy other notable players first, like Varun Chakaravarthy and Rinku Singh.
Ajinkya Rahane has impressed everyone with his performance in domestic cricket, taking Mumbai to multiple titles, including the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He accumulated 469 runs to get most runs in the tournament with an average of beyond 58 and a strike rate of 164.56. Ajinkya Rahane’s successful stint as a short-term captain for the Indian team against Australia is also a point of discussion. Rahane brings versatile leadership skills, having captained the Rising Pune Super Giant and the Rajasthan Royals in the past.
Meanwhile, Venkatesh Iyer, who has been associated with only the KKR franchise since 2021, will serve as the vice-captain for the upcoming season. He served as a notable player in the year gone by, uplifting KKR with his decisive 370 runs, striking the ball at the rate of 158.79. Former West Indies player Dwayne Bravo has been chosen as the mentor of KKR for IPL 2025 in place of former skipper Gautam Gambhir, who led the franchise to the title in 2012 and 2014. Bravo brings depth with his experience of playing more than 500 T20 matches.
Ajinkya Rahane began his outing in IPL with another successful IPL franchise, Mumbai Indians. Then, he represented Rajasthan Royals, coming across a strength of the team before moving on to the squad of Rising Pune Supergant. Once the ban on RR was lifted, he came back as a captain, but then he also played with Delhi Capitals, including KKR, for a short term prior to CSK and then KKR picking him up again in 2025.
KKR Captains throughout the years
Kolkata Knight Riders have been one of the most successful teams in the IPL, with three titles. There have been several legendary players who have been in the franchise throughout the years and have played a leadership role in the team. Let’s have a look at the KKR captains in every season.
| Player | Span | Matches | Won | Lost | Tied | Draw | NR | W/L | W% | L% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SC Ganguly | 2008-2010 | 27 | 13 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.92 | 48.14 | 51.85 |
| BB McCullum | 2009-2009 | 13 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.33 | 23.07 | 69.23 |
| G Gambhir | 2011-2017 | 122 | 69 | 51 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.35 | 56.55 | 41.80 |
| JH Kallis | 2011-2011 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 | 50.00 | 50.00 |
| KD Karthik | 2018-2020 | 37 | 19 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.11 | 51.35 | 45.94 |
| EJG Morgan | 2020-2021 | 24 | 11 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.91 | 45.83 | 50.00 |
| SS Iyer | 2022-2022 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.75 | 42.85 | 57.14 |
| N Rana | 2023-2023 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.75 | 42.85 | 57.14 |
| SS Iyer | 2024-24 | 16 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3.66 | 68.75 | 18.75 |
| AM Rahane | 2025- | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 37.50 | 62.50 |
Ajinkya Rahane Captaincy Records in IPL
Ajinkya Rahane has experience leading two IPL teams in the past. He stepped in as a captain in 2018 for the Rajasthan Royals and repeated this stint in 2019 until IPL was underway, when Steven Smith replaced him. He has also led Rising Pune Super Giant for one match in IPL 2017. He led IPL teams in 25 fixtures and won only 9 matches. Rahane has underscored a relatively lower winning percentage of 36. In IPL 2018, his side appeared in the playoff but could not get to the final match.
| Matches | Won | Lost | Tied | Draw | NR | W% | L% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | 12 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36.36% | 63.63% |
KKR IPL 2025 Squad
| No. | Player | Type | Acquisition | Role | Auction Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ajinkya Rahane (C) | Indian | Auction | Batter | INR 1.5 crore |
| 2 | Rinku Singh | Indian | Retained | Batter | INR 13 crore |
| 3 | Varun Chakaravarthy | Indian | Retained | Bowler | INR 12 crore |
| 4 | Sunil Narine (West Indies) | Overseas | Retained | All-rounder | INR 12 crore |
| 5 | Andre Russell (West Indies) | Overseas | Retained | All-rounder | INR 12 crore |
| 6 | Harshit Rana | Indian | Retained | Bowler | INR 4 crore |
| 7 | Ramandeep Singh | Indian | Retained | Batter | INR 4 crore |
| 8 | Venkatesh Iyer | Indian | Auction | Batter | INR 23.75 crore |
| 9 | Quinton de Kock (South Africa) | Overseas | Auction | Wicketkeeper/Batter | INR 3.60 crore |
| 10 | Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Afghanistan) | Overseas | Auction | Wicketkeeper/Batter | INR 2 crore |
| 11 | Anrich Nortje (South Africa) | Overseas | Auction | Bowler | INR 6.50 crore |
| 12 | Angkrish Raghuvanshi | Indian | Auction | All-rounder | INR 3 crore |
| 13 | Vaibhav Arora | Indian | Auction | Bowler | INR 1.80 crore |
| 14 | Mayank Markande | Indian | Auction | Bowler | INR 30 lakh |
| 15 | Rovman Powell (West Indies) | Overseas | Auction | Batter | INR 1.50 crore |
| 16 | Manish Pandey | Indian | Auction | Batter | INR 75 lakh |
| 17 | Spencer Johnson (Australia) | Overseas | Auction | Bowler | INR 2.80 crore |
| 18 | Luvnith Sisodia | Indian | Auction | Batter | INR 30 lakh |
| 19 | Anukul Roy | Indian | Auction | All-rounder | INR 40 lakh |
| 20 | Moeen Ali (England) | Overseas | Auction | All-rounder | INR 2 crore |
| 21 | Umran Malik | Indian | Auction | Bowler | INR 75 lakh |
Former Indian Captain Sourav Ganguly was the captain of KKR in the initial duration of the tournament from 2008 to 2010. Under his stint, KKR won 14 out of 27 games. However, in 2009, former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum led the team in 13 matches, out of which they came out victorious on three occasions.
In 2011, Gautam Gambhir took over the charge as the captain of the KKR. He became the only captain to lead the franchise to the title in 2012 and 2014 and also had a winning percentage of 56.55 with 69 wins from 122 games. He was released by the franchise ahead of IPL 2018, and Dinesh Karthik replaced him as the skipper.
Karthik was the captain of KKR in IPL 2018 and 2019 and led the team to 19 victories out of 37 matches during his stint. After him, England’s World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan took over the captaincy role ahead of IPL 2020. Morgan led KKR to their third IPL final in 2021. In IPL 2024, Shreyas Iyer led the team and etched history by propelling KKR to lift the trophy for the third time, making him the most successful captain for this franchise, as he has an outstanding winning percentage of 68.75. Now, the responsibility of captaincy rests on the shoulders of a decent player and tactical leader, Ajinkya Rahane, who will be determined to help KKR defend the title in IPL 2025. d KKR to their third IPL final in 2021.
