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After splurging massive sum on India batting all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer (INR 23.75 Cr), the defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Monday, November 25 bought veteran Indian cricketer Ajinkya Rahane. The Test batter, who led India to the historic Border-Gavaskar Trophy win in 2020-21 in Australia, made his return to KKR, after being with them in 2022.
The right-hander batter's return in the side, not only boosted their middle-order strength in the line-up but also got fans speculating of him being the leader of the pack with Shreyas Iyer being released by the franchise ahead of the mega auction. Although with the amount spent on Venkatesh Iyer, there could be a second thought if he could take the leadership role, but with the experience on his side, Rahane also is one of the contenders.
Fans react after KKR bring back Ajinkya Rahane in IPL 2025 mega auction
With Rahane’s return in the purple for IPL 2025, fans got the speculations going that he could lead the side. While a few hailed his leadership role during the BGT 2020-21 edition, a few others acknowledged his past performance, especially in IPL 2023 with Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Check how fans reacted to Rahane’s return in KKR:
Venky Mysore opens up prospect of Akinkya Rahane leading KKR in IPL 2025
Speaking after the conclusion of two-day mega auction, KKR CEO Venky Mysore also opened up on the prospect of Ajinkya Rahane becoming the skipper of the side. “Well, you know that. To be honest, we have to sit down and take stock. Sometimes what happens is, after you've done all of these things, you just have to sit down, reflect, look at the whole thing. There are stakeholders and parts of the think tank won't be here. So we'll all sit down and have a proper chat about that, and I'm sure a proper decision will be made,' Mysore told the broadcasters.
Kolkata Knight Riders IPL 2025 full squad
Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana, Ramandeep Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Mayank Markande, Anrich Nortje, Vaibhav Arora, Rovman Powell, Spencer Johnson, Manish Pandey, Luvnith Sisodia, Ajinkya Rahane, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Umran Malik
