Honoured to captain KKR, ready for the challenge that lies ahead: Ajinkya Rahane

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Ajinkya Rahane has said that it’s an honour for him to lead the team in the upcoming Indian Premier League 2025 (IPL 2025). KKR bought Rahane for Rs 1.5 crore at the mega auction ahead of the season as he marks his return to the team after two seasons.

The veteran cricketer was appointed as the new skipper after Shreyas Iyer, who led them to their third IPL title in 2024, decided not to get retained by the team ahead of the mega auction. Hence, Rahane will have the opportunity to lead an IPL side after six years.

Ahead of his return to captaincy, the star batter mentioned that it’s an honour for him to return to lead a successful franchise like KKR and spoke about his camaraderie with head coach Chandrakant Pandit.

“First of all, it’s an honour for me to be the captain of this wonderful franchisee, 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, we worked together when Chandu sir was with Mumbai team, and I know his methods. I mean, he’s, 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.

Furthermore, he also mentioned that it would be a challenge for them to defend their title in the upcoming season but the entire squad will be up for it.

“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 it will be a challenge for us to defend the title, but again, that’s why, that’s why we play cricket. We love this game and as I mentioned, this is an honour for me to lead this wonderful franchise and we will obviously give our best, this season,” he added.

Rahane brings with him a wealth of experience having led India in all three formats at the international level. The 36-year-old who’s been a part of IPL since its inception has a massive task at hand to fill in Shreyas Iyer’s shoes and script another glorious chapter in KKR’s IPL history.