Rinku Singh set to replace Ajinkya Rahane as KKR captain mid-IPL 2026: Report
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A massive update has been issued on the Kolkata Knight Riders' probable captaincy switch midway through the IPL. Instead, Rinku Singh has been backed to replace Ajinkya Rahane in the middle of the tournament.
The Kolkata Knight Riders did not make a promising start to their campaign in IPL 2026, as they started off with two consecutive losses. They lost their first match in the season against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium.
On the other hand, they returned to the Eden Gardens for their second match of the season, which was against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. The SRH team defeated them by 65 runs in the second match of the competition.
Rinku Singh will replace Ajinkya Rahane as KKR captain
Ajinkya Rahane's captaincy has faced much criticism in this edition of the competition. After two consecutive losses in the competition, the KKR veteran might be asked to step down from his role anytime soon.
In a conversation with Abhishek Tripathi and Ankar Kar, Ray Sportz reporter Sandipan Banerjee revealed that a huge change might be observed in the KKR camp midway through the season. The Kolkata Knight Riders might be handing the captaincy duties to a new skipper.
Rinku Singh has been considered for the role. Rinku was seen leading the KKR team during the second innings of the game against MI, when KKR failed to defend a massive score of 220 runs.
🚨 There's a fair chance Rinku Singh will be the KKR captain by mid season.
— KKR Vibe (@KnightsVibe) April 3, 2026
Rahane expected to be sacked in the middle of the tournament.
-Sandipan [Ray Sportz] pic.twitter.com/VjWS59tAFv
KKR struggling under Ajinkya Rahane
The Kolkata Knight Riders appointed Ajinkya Rahane as the replacement skipper after Shreyas Iyer was released ahead of the season in 2025. Rahane captained the franchise, and the defending champions finished an awful season in eighth position with just 5 wins.
Despite such a poor performance, KKR's new coaching staff, led by Abhishek Nayar, backed Rahane for the captaincy in this season as well. However, Rahane has continued his losing streak in the IPL.
As KKR's skipper, Rahane has lost a record 56% of the games, as he has lost 9 of the 16 matches, while managing to win only 5.
Should Rachin Ravindra be picked in the KKR XI?
Other than a switch in captaincy, another major controversy in the KKR camp has involved their highly invested cricketer Cameron Green, whom KKR bought for a whopping INR 25.20 crore. The all-rounder has featured in the two games as a specialist batter and has even failed to contribute significantly with the bat.
With just 20 runs with the bat and not a single over bowled, many have suggested that he should be benched until he resumes bowling. Instead, KKR could pick Rachin Ravindra, who is an ideal all-rounder and could help sort KKR's spin bowling woes in the middle phase.
Ravindra was New Zealand's highest wicket-taker in the recently concluded ICC T20 World Cup in India and had proved himself effective as a top-order batter as well.
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