Why Did KKR Choose Rahane as Captain?

Despite Venkatesh Iyer being an integral part of KKR, the team management felt that captaincy could be overwhelming for a younger player. “The IPL is a highly intense tournament, and while we think highly of Venkatesh, captaincy is a demanding role,” Mysore told ESPNcricinfo. “Handling leadership responsibilities requires experience, stability, and a steady hand, which Rahane brings to the table.”

Rahane’s journey in the IPL has been remarkable—he has played 185 IPL matches and has captained teams at various levels, including the Indian national team, Mumbai in domestic cricket, and two IPL franchises. Mysore highlighted Rahane’s ability to manage media pressure, team diversity, and strategic planning as crucial attributes that set him apart.

Rahane’s Experience & Captaincy Credentials

Rahane’s leadership experience includes:

• 11 matches as India’s captain, with 8 wins across formats
• Leading Rajasthan Royals and Rising Pune Supergiant in the IPL
• Captaining Mumbai in domestic cricket

KKR, which won the IPL title in 2024 under Shreyas Iyer, had to search for a new captain after Shreyas re-entered the auction and was picked up by Punjab Kings. Interestingly, Rahane initially went unsold in the first round of the 2025 auction, only to be picked up by KKR later for his base price of INR 1.5 crore ($180,000 approx.).

“He has played IPL since its inception in 2008, and his experience is invaluable,” Mysore said. “There should be no surprise about his appointment.”

According to The Indian Express, KKR sees Rahane not just as a strategic leader but also as a dependable batsman who can anchor their innings in crucial situations.

Venkatesh Iyer: A Future Captain in the Making?

Although KKR picked Rahane as captain, they continue to see Venkatesh Iyer as a future leader. Mysore stated that Venkatesh has already exhibited strong leadership qualities, including his influence in the dressing room, energy, and the respect he commands from teammates.

“We are very impressed with his leadership potential. He’s a franchise player and has shown immense promise,” Mysore said. “Having him as vice-captain will allow him to learn from Rahane and develop his captaincy skills over time.”

Rahane is expected to mentor Venkatesh, helping him transition into a leadership role in the future. As per Cricbuzz, KKR sees this as a long-term strategy to groom Venkatesh as a potential captain in upcoming IPL seasons.

Final Thoughts

By appointing Rahane, KKR has chosen experience over youth for the 2025 season, ensuring a stable and strategic approach to leadership. However, with Venkatesh Iyer as vice-captain, the team is also preparing for the future, setting up a smooth transition for upcoming seasons.

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Ajinkya Rahane and Rachin Ravindra team up for a fantastic dismissal

CSK were chasing a target of 156 runs set by RCB, which wasn’t too high. CSK’s bowlers did a great job early in the game. Mustafizur Rahman was particularly impressive, taking three important wickets. In the 12th over, he bowled a delivery that tempted Kohli to go for a big shot. Rahane made a fantastic diving catch near the boundary, but he was about to cross the line. So, he threw the ball back in to Ravindra, who completed the catch safely, getting Kohli out.

Watch the Video:

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Mustafizur Rahman wrecks RCB top order

Mustafizur wasn’t finished yet. Just two balls later, he knocked over Cameron Green for a slow 18 runs, taking two wickets in that over.

The left-arm bowler had earlier dismissed Faf du Plessis (scoring 35 off 23 balls) and Rajat Patidar (scoring 0) quickly in his first over, causing trouble for the RCB top order. Anuj Rawat (scoring 48 off 25 balls) and Dinesh Karthik (scoring 38 not out off 26 balls) staged a late fightback, helping RCB post a competitive total of 173/6 on the scoreboard.

CSK sails smoothly to win

CSK easily reached the goal in 18.4 overs. Newcomer Ravindra did great with 37 runs from just 15 balls, and Rahane, who’s been playing for a while, scored 27 runs from 19 balls, giving the team a good start. Shivam Dube stayed unbeaten with 34 runs from 28 balls, and Ravindra Jadeja also remained unbeaten with 25 runs from 17 balls, wrapping up the game smoothly and securing a nice win for the Chennai team.

Having turned 35 last month, Ajinkya Rahane says he still has a “lot of cricket left” in him, but is firmly focused on living in the moment instead of looking too far into the future as India begin their new WTC cycle with the two-match Test series against West Indies beginning July 12 in Roseau.

Call it a quirk of fate, and Rahane has been named vice-captain of the Test team, even though he was making a comeback to the side only last month after more than a year away. In that game against Australia – the WTC final no less – he was India’s best batter, with scores of 89 and 46.

“I’m still young and there’s a lot of cricket left in me. In the last one year or so, I’ve worked a lot on my fitness,” Ajinkya Rahane said after rain cut short India’s training session for a second day in a row at Windsor Park. “There were a few points in my batting that I’ve worked on. I’m enjoying my cricket a lot, enjoying my batting. I’m not thinking too much into the future. Every game is important, personally and also from the team point of view. I’m focusing on just that.”

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Since being left out of the Test side in February 2022, Ajinkya Rahane has focused on deriving joy out of the game without setting any expectations. He captained Mumbai across formats in the 2022-23 domestic season, leading them to the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 title, while also throwing in some compelling performances with the bat.

In all first-class cricket since September 2022 until February this year, he scored 884 runs in 16 innings with three hundreds and a half-century at 58.93. The numbers, excellent though not world beating, were a sign that he had kept himself in the hunt should a spot open up.

As it turned out, India needed experience for the WTC final in Shreyas Iyer’s absence. And when Ajinkya Rahane got the call, he was batting in the manner few expected him to in the IPL, going from an anchor to a full-blown boundary-hitter.

The turnaround was remarkable because Ajinkya Rahane wasn’t in Chennai Super Kings’ original plans. His IPL career seemed to have hit a dead end; he hadn’t hit a fifty in the tournament since the 2020 edition. And like at the Indian team, a spot opened up for Super Kings because Ben Stokes was injured and Moeen Ali unwell. He vindicated the backing in his second game, scoring a match-winning 61 off just 27 balls against Mumbai Indians.

“Playing under Rohit Sharma is great. We share a great equation” – Ajinkya Rahane

“Nothing has changed,” Rahane insisted when asked of this latest turn in his career. “CSK gave me a role, and you try to fulfil that role. Prior to that, my role was of an anchor, [and] I played according to that. CSK told me, ‘You have freedom, go out and play according to that’. I’m actually a stroke-maker, I always look for runs. The role has changed, nothing else has changed. I’ve always said I’ll fulfil the role the team gives me. That’s what I’m focusing on.”

The WTC final last month was Rahane’s first match under Rohit Sharma‘s captaincy for India, even though they both go back a long way, having grown up playing together for Mumbai through the age-group circuit and then the first-class format.

“The role Rohit gives me, I’ll fulfil that. Playing under Rohit is great,” Ajinkya Rahane said. “He gives freedom to the players, and then backs them. They’re signs of a great captain. I’m feeling good. We share a great equation. I’m used to this role [as vice-captain]. I did the job for almost five years, but I’m really happy to be back in the team. Really happy to be back as vice-captain.”

Rahane was particularly chuffed for another Mumbai boy – 21-year-old Yashasvi Jaiswal, who Rahane captained in domestic cricket all through 2022-23, where Jaiswal made heads turn with his temperament and stroke-play. In all, Jaiswal has a first-class average of 80.21 in 26 innings, and scores of 213 and 144 in his most recent first-class game, in the Irani Cup in March.

Having been a part of the reserves for the WTC final, Jaiswal has now been given an elevation into the main squad. It’s likely he will be handed a cap to slot in either at the top or at one drop in place of Cheteshwar Pujara.

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“I’m really happy for him. He’s an exciting talent,” Rahane said. “He’s done really well for Mumbai, [and] did well in the IPL. Most important [is] the way he’s batting in red-ball cricket. His record is good, he did well in the Duleep Trophy last year and for Mumbai as well. My message will be to just go out there and express himself the way he’s batting, and not think too much about [the stage of] international cricket. It’s about going in the middle and playing with freedom.”

Rahane also didn’t think India fielding a pace attack with just 88 Test wickets between them was a concern. While Mohammed Siraj will be India’s spearhead in the West Indies with 52 wickets so far in Tests, Jaydev Unadkat, who made a return to the format after 12 years against Bangladesh last December, has been India’s most consistent red-ball bowler in domestic cricket for the last four seasons.

In two of them, Unadkat led the team to a title and in one season – 2019-20 – picked up a record-breaking 67 wickets, the most by a fast bowler in a single Ranji season. In 2022-23, he featured in just four Ranji games owing to national call-ups. Unadkat led the side in all those fixtures, and took 26 wickets at an average of 13.88. His best performance came against Delhi, in which he took a hat-trick in the first over of the match on his way to career-best figures of 8 for 39.

“Siraj is there as a senior bowler, [and] Jaydev has a lot of experience. The other two guys [Shardul Thakur and Navdeep Saini] are pretty much experienced, so it’s an opportunity,” Rahane said. “[Mohammed] Shami is our senior bowler who has really done well for us, but with a long season ahead, need to give him a rest as well.

“At the same time, we are not underestimating West Indies. We don’t know what people are saying on the outside, but we are definitely not taking them lightly. Their performance at home in Tests has been good in the last one to two years. We’ve had good preparation in Barbados before coming in, so we’re well covered. It’s all about starting well now.”

India skipper Rohit Sharma has come under the scanner after his low returns in yet another ICC final. India lost to Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final by 209 runs. This was their fourth loss in the final of an ICC event as their wait to win the trophy continued. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma’s position as India’s Test captain is safe for now and he looks set to lead the team on the West Indies tour as well.

But the man is already 36 years old and might not continue for long, at least in the red-ball format. India will have to look for his long term replacement and there are a few players who can replace him at the helm.

Here are three players who can replace Rohit Sharma as India’s Test captain:

1. Rishabh Pant

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India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant is a perect long term prospect in terms of captaincy at the moment. The left-hander is not playing international cricket since the horrific car crash in December 2022. But he is expected to return to action by next year and given his red-ball credentials and his age, Pant can easily take up the mantle to take the Indian Test team forward.

2. Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane played as India’s vice-captain for a long time before getting dropped from the team last year. His low returns with the bat for a couple of years led to the management leaving him out. However, the veteran made a comeback for the WTC Final and played superbly to once again seal his place in the side. Though he is not a long-term replacement of Rohit Sharma, his experience and captaincy record, makes him a prime candidate to replace Rohit at the helm. Rahane can at least remain India’s captain to end the new WTC cycle if Rohit relinqushes the Test format.

3. Shubman Gill

Now this could raise a lot of eyebrows. Shubman Gill is the new sensation of Indian cricket and is flourishing a lot with the bat this year. He has scored at least a century in all the formats at the international cricket and looking at the long term goal, he could be made the skipper of the team. Gill looks set to represent India for at least a decade with the way he is playing and being backed. Hence, he can groomed for leadership opportunity in the next 12 months and then appoint him at the helm.