Vaibhav Arora wants Ajinkya Rahane to step down as KKR captain mid IPL 2026 season

Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy has come under heavy scrutiny after Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) suffered back-to-back defeats in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2026 (IPL 2026). Many felt the KKR made the big blunder by continuing with Ajinkya Rahane as captain for this season after the 2025 disaster.

And now, following the three-time champions’ 65-run defeat against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their second game and that too at their home ground—Eden Gardens in Kolkata—the dressing has already started expressing displeasure publicly over Rahane’s captaincy.

Vaibhav Arora’s Instagram ‘Like’ creates big controversy as Ajinkya Rahane under fire after KKR’s 2nd straight loss

A small tap on Instagram has created a huge storm for Kolkata Knight Riders amid the ongoing IPL 2026. Actually, KKR fast bowler Vaibhav Arora has liked a reel by Revsportz journalist Rohit Juglan, where he boldly said that Rahane should step down from captaincy and even drop himself from the playing XI, just like Gautam Gambhir did in 2018.

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This left many to wonder whether the KKR camp was thinking the same. Back in 2018, Gambhir had shown the courage and removed himself as captain and even dropped from the playing XI. Then, Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) brought in Shreyas Iyer, and they did a lot better.

Will Rahane follow in the footsteps of Ricky Ponting and Gautam Gambhir?

Even legendary Ricky Ponting had left the captaincy in 2013, and Rohit Sharma led the Mumbai Indians to the title in that season. However, many were not already convinced of KKR’s gamble, and now Vaibhav Arora has added fuel to the fire by agreeing to the viral buzz.

Interestingly, Kolkata Knight Riders had won the IPL trophy in 2024, and they didn’t make many changes to that squad, yet they have been struggling badly since the last season. Speaking about this season, Rahane’s batting and captaincy are both hurting the team, and then Varun Chakravarthy’s struggles are making things worse for them.

'Makeshift option Ajinkya Rahane is the main issue'

Not just that, KKR batters have been taking too much time to settle, and their bowling attack is already inexperienced. But the most important thing is that Rahane was never KKR’s first-choice captain and not even second choice. He was a makeshift option, and now this gamble is failing.

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The journalist said that the whole team is suffering because of Rahane and felt Rinku Singh could be KKR’s next captain while denying the idea of a full reset, and Arora agreed to this. This sparked a huge debate about whether everything is fine within the KKR dressing room.

Vaibhav Arora has liked Rohit Juglan’s reel in which he is saying that “Rahane should step down from captaincy” pic.twitter.com/RITmz7nCYG

— KKR Karavan (@KkrKaravan) April 3, 2026

Broo vaibhav arora liked a reel where juglan is saying ajinkya Rahane should drop himself from the main xi like gambhir did in 2018. 😭🤣 pic.twitter.com/n3B8SgyYx0

— 🦉 (@Flicks_it) April 3, 2026

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A post shared by Rohit Juglan (@rohit.juglan)

They have an agenda against me: Rahane on heavy criticism

Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane has finally reacted to heavy criticism for his slow batting in IPL 2026. His strike rate of 80 has become a major talking point, but the KKR captain feels the attacks on him are an agenda and people are judging him without looking at the full situation.

Rahane said at the post-match press conference in Kolkata, "I think people who are talking about me are not watching the game or, [maybe], they have an agenda against me. They don’t like the amount of success I’ve got. They are jealous of me. People who are talking… [probably] didn’t expect Ajinkya Rahane to improve his game this much. I back myself rather than think about whoever is talking about me.”