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IPL 2025 KKR Captain: Why Ajinkya Rahane Is Not The Right Choice To Replace Shreyas Iyer

Anurag Dasgupta

Reasons why Rahane shouldn't lead KKR [Source: @CFCAbhii/X.Com] Reasons why Rahane shouldn't lead KKR [Source: @CFCAbhii/X.Com]

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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) raised eyebrows when they decided to releases their title winning captain, Shreyas Iyer ahead of the mega auction. Iyer led them to their third IPL trophy and it was expected that he'll be retained by the franchise.

However, the duo parted ways as Iyer joined Punjab Kings and KKR had no captaincy choice left. Interestingly, they bought Ajinkya Rahane in the auction for a steal price, and now rumours are that the former CSK star will lead the franchise in the next season.

However, in this piece we list down the reasons as to why Ajinkya Rahane is not the right choice to replace Iyer as KKR captain.

Why look at past when you can look at the future?

Ajinkya Rahane is 36 years old and is not getting any younger, and hence, appointing a skipper who is well past his prime wouldn't be the most logical decision from the KKR management. Yes, Rahane has the captaincy experience in both the IPL and domestic circuit, but like CSK, they should look at the future and appoint a young captain.

The franchise invested heavily in Venkatesh Iyer and head coach Chandrakant Pandit shares a great bond with him and should make the decision to look into the future and make the other Iyer the skipper of the side instead of Rahane.

Will Rahane get a place in the side?

Yes, Rahane did extremely well in the 2023 season for CSK with the bat, but other than that, his IPL track record isn't impressive. In the 2023 season, Rahane struck at 172.49, but that was the only good season for him in terms of strike rate. In 185 IPL matches, he has scored 4642 runs, at just 123.42, which is not a great number by any means.

He doesn't embody the new T20 style of play, and the question arises, when KKR have so many power-hitters, why will they play Rahane, who doesn't fit in their style of play?.