IPL 2025: Ajinkya Rahane kicked aside as new KKR captain picked

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has a surprising choice for the next captain of Kolkata Knight Riders. Chopra feels that Venkatesh Iyer could emerge as the franchise's next captain for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League.

There are a few other options for the role of KKR's captaincy like Ajinkya Rahane and Rinku Singh. However, Aakash Chopra feels that Venkatesh Iyer's huge price tag could force the franchise to make him the captain.

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Aakash Chopra ignores Ajinkya Rahane and Rinku Singh

With RCB having appointed their captain recently, KKR remains one of the two teams who are yet to appoint their captain for IPL 2025. While speaking on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra spoke about Ajinkya Rahane's chances of being the team's captain but denied it eventually.

"They bought Ajinkya Rahane right at the end. His first-class form has been very good and he played extremely well in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy too. So it seems like you can make Ajinkya Rahane your captain. I don't think Ajinkya Rahane will be in their thought process. I don't think Ajinkya Rahane is their captain," Chopra noted.

Chopra also denied Rinku Singh for the role despite him being the captain of his domestic team Uttar Pradesh. Rinku has grown into a world-class cricketer under KKR management and is also a key part of India's T20I team.

"It should be a two-horse race. It has to be either Venkatesh Iyer or Rinku Singh. In my opinion, Rinku Singh's stocks should have increased. He is UP's captain and is a proper player. However, it doesn't seem like they would make him their captain as well," he added.

Aakash Chopra picks Venkatesh Iyer to be KKR captain

Further speaking in the video, Aakash Chopra predicted Venkatesh Iyer to be the next KKR captain. Chopra reckons that the franchise spent loads of money on Iyer which might prompt them to make him the captain.

"You went all guns blazing and spent so much money on Venkatesh Iyer that you suddenly feel whether you spent too much. You might have got even Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan or a few other players for that much," the former India opener observed.

"However, they went with Venkatesh Iyer. They kept going a long way for him. In fact, they were having a fight with RCB. In the end, they got him and I think he could be their captain. When you have invested so much money in someone, Venkatesh Iyer might be KKR's captain," he added.

Venkatesh Iyer's IPL numbers

Venkatesh Iyer has been with KKR since 2021. The allrounder was highly impressive at the top order in his debut IPL season and has been a key player for the franchise since. He has played 50 matches in his IPL career and scored 1326 runs at an average of 31.57 and a strike rate of 137.12.

Iyer played a blinder of a knock in the IPL 2024 final against Sunrisers Hyderabad to help the Kolkata Knight Riders clinch the title. He smashed 52 off just 26 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes. Overall, he scored 370 runs in IPL 2024 at an average of 46.25 and a strike rate of 158.79.