Sunil Narine new KKR captain! Ajinkya Rahane issued ultimatum amid horrible IPL 2026

Captain Ajinkya Rahane has been facing heavy criticism as the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are still searching for their first win in the ongoing IPL 2026. The 2024 IPL champions have found themselves at the bottom of the points table with one point from five games.

They have lost all of their first four games so far in the tournament. Their only point came from a match against the Punjab Kings (PKS) that got washed out at Eden Gardens.

Drop Ajinkya Rahane and make Sunil Narine the captain: Kris Srikkanth to KKR

Amid KKR’s disastrous campaign, former Indian captain Kris Srikkanth has made a bold suggestion while raising questions on Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy. Rahane is doing well with the bat, but the team is not winning matches, and that is putting his captaincy under pressure.

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Now, ahead of their away game against the Gujarat Titans (GT) on Friday in Ahmedabad, Srikkanth suggested Kolkata Knight Riders remove Rahane from captaincy and hand over the reins to Sunil Narine in the middle of the season if things don’t improve in the next few games.

Kris Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel, “I'll give Ajinkya Rahane one or two chances more. If nothing changes, I'll drop him also and make Sunil Narine the captain midway through the season. Rahane should come into bat only if necessary. Else let him only captain the side. He shouldn't bat in the middle. Making him the captain was the wrong move in the first place. But do they have the courage to make a strong move of dropping him now?”

Rinku Singh slammed by Srikkanth for inconsistent batting

Captaincy is not only KKR’s problem, but their overall performance is in the tournament. The former Indian chief selector said that their bowling attack has been very weak, which is hurting them badly. He also pointed out Rinku Singh’s inconsistent performance in the middle order.

There is only one positive for the Kolkata franchise this season, and that is Kartik Tyagi, but Srikkanth stressed that one or two players performing is not enough to win matches in the IPL.

Srikkanth added, “They also have no chance with this bowling and batting. Vaibhav Arora consistently concedes 55 runs off 4 overs. What will you do with him as your main strike bowler? Rinku Singh never scores. He can't play at 5. If it's 40 needed off the last 3 to 4 overs, he will do that job. Otherwise, he can't do anything. Kartik Tyagi is the one guy doing well.”

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Rachin Ravindra, Matheesha Pathirana named as game-changing options for KKR by Srikkanth

The former World Cup winner also suggested some big changes in the playing XI. He wants KKR to drop struggling Finn Allen and Cameron Green and bring Rachin Ravindra and Matheesha Pathirana into the XI to fix the team combination against the Gujarat Titans.

Srikkanth signed off by saying, “They should drop Finn Allen and Cameron Green. Bring in Rachin Ravindra and Pathirana. They can open with Rachin Ravindra and Rahane. That'll balance the team. But their support staff itself looks better than the actual players they have.”