On March 3, the defending champions of the Indian Premier League, the Kolkata Knight Riders, announced veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane as their captain for the 2025 edition. With this, he became the eighth captain of the purple camp, succeeding the former winning captain Shreyas Iyer. Notably, Ajinkya Rahane was signed by KKR in the 2024 Mega auction for an amount of INR 1.50 crore. The Madhya Pradesh-based allrounder Venkatesh Iyer has been appointed as the team’s vice captain, assisting Rahane. Venkatesh Iyer has been KKR’s costliest buy for the 2025 session, as they got him for a massive INR 23.75 crore. The CEO of the KKR franchise, Venky Mysore, has made the official announcement on KKR’s official X handle. It said: “We are delighted to have someone like Ajinkya Rahane, who brings his experience and maturity as a leader. Also, Venkatesh Iyer has been a franchise player for KKR and brings a lot of leadership qualities. We are confident that they will combine well as we start the defense of our title.” On receiving the captaincy duties, Ajinkya Rahane too is delighted and considered this as a huge honor for him. “It’s an honour to be asked to lead KKR, which has been one of the most successful franchises in the IPL. I think we have an excellent and balanced squad. I look forward to working with everyone and taking up the challenge of defending our title.” šØ š¢š³š³š¶š°š¶š®š¹ šš»š»š¼šš»š°š²šŗš²š»š - Ajinkya Rahane named captain of KKR. Venkatesh Iyer named Vice-Captain of KKR for TATA IPL 2025. pic.twitter.com/F6RAccqkmW — KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) March 3, 2025 Read also: KKR Squad for IPL 2025: Kolkata Knight Riders Full Squad and Probable XI Ajinkya Rahane’s ties with KKR Ajinkya Rahane, before being part of the Chennai Super Kings, had played for the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2022, the first batch under Shreyas Iyer’s leadership. He had scored 133 runs from 7 matches at a strike rate of 103.90, having an average of 19. His highest score was 44. In 2023, he shifted to CSK and scored 326 runs with his highest 71 not out, having a strike rate of 172.48. Notably, in 2024, KKR won their third IPL title, defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer, who will presently lead Punjab Kings. For this reason, KKR, unlike other teams, will have the golden team badge on their jersey. So far, Ajinkya Rahane has represented 6 teams, with most of his early days with the Rajasthan Royals. He has accumulated 4642 runs at a strike rate of 123.42. He has 2 hundreds and 30 half centuries to his name. Here is a list of captains who led KKR before Rahane: • Sourav Ganguly • Brendon McCullum • Gautam Gambhir • Dinesh Karthik • Eoin Morgan • Shreyas Iyer • Nitish Rana • Ajinkya Rahane