IPL 2025: Ajinkya Rahane 'honored' to captain Kolkata Knight Riders; Shows readiness to tackle challenges

Ajinkya Rahane was bought by KKR at the IPL 2025 auction for INR 1.50 crores.

Ajinkya Rahane stated that he is honored to captain the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. The defending champions will open the IPL 2025 with their first match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on March 22.

Ajinkya Rahane was bought by the KKR franchise for INR 1.50 crores in the accelerated round of bidding during the IPL 2025 mega auction. This will be Rahane’s second stint with the Shah Rukh Khan co-owned IPL franchise, who are three-time champions.

After Shreyas Iyer, who guided the franchise to its third IPL championship in 2024, declined to be retained by the team before the massive auction, the seasoned cricket player was named the new captain. Rahane will therefore get the chance to captain an IPL team after six years.

It’s an honor for me to be the captain: Ajinkya Rahane

Before taking the captaincy of the KKR franchise, the ace batsman talked about his friendship with head coach Chandrakant Pandit and said it is an honor for him to lead a successful team like KKR.

“First of all, it’s an honor for me to be the captain of this wonderful franchise, and I’m really thankful and grateful to the management for giving me this opportunity. This is a challenging role, you know; we won the championship last year. For me, it is always about keeping it simple. Chandu sir and I worked together when Chandu sir was with the Mumbai team, and I know his methods. I mean, he’s very disciplined, very focused, and he knows how to get the best out of every individual,” said Rahane in a video shared by Star Sports.

Rahane played seven games for KKR in IPL 2022, where they ended in seventh place. This will be his second stint with the team. With a best of 44 runs, he scored 133 runs in those games in IPL 2022.

We will obviously give our best: Ajinkya Rahane on KKR team

In addition, he stated that the team as a whole will be prepared for the challenge of defending their crown in this season. Rahane has played for six franchises in the IPL, scoring 4642 runs with 2 centuries and 30 fifties.

“So for me, it’s always about having that good communication with our players, giving them that freedom on the field to express themselves and try and understand each other. So, again, it will be a challenge for us to defend the title, but again, that’s why we play cricket. We love this game, and as I mentioned, this is an honor for me to lead this wonderful franchise, and we will obviously give our best this season,” he added.

Introducing 𝐀𝐣𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐲𝐚 𝐑𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐞, the new 𝐊𝐊𝐑 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧, ready to lead the Riders into their 18th IPL season! 💥#IPLonJioStar 👉 SEASON OPENER #KKRvRCB | SAT, 22nd March, 6:30 PM | LIVE on JioHotstar & Star Sports Network | #IPL2025 #IndianPossibleLeague pic.twitter.com/A7NCkrj7Jg

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) March 17, 2025

Having captained India in all three formats at the international level, Rahane brings a plethora of knowledge to the table. The 36-year-old, who has participated in the IPL since its beginning, has a huge challenge ahead of him: replacing Shreyas Iyer and writing another illustrious chapter in KKR’s IPL history.

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