Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and India spinner Varun Chakravarthy have been named the captain of the Tamil Nadu (TN) side for the upcoming season of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT 2025). The domestic T20 tournament will begin later this month from November 26, with TN slated to play their opener against Rajasthan.
Varun will take over the captaincy reins from Shahrukh Khan, who led the side in the tournament last year and serving as Varun’s deputy will be wicketkeeper-batter Narayan Jagadeesan. The TN side features a star-studded roster with other IPL names like Gurjapneet Singh, Andre Siddarth, Sai Kishore, Manimaran Siddharth, T Natarajan, and Shahrukh himself.
Coming back to Varun’s recent promotion to captaincy, his new position can now pave the way for a bigger role with his IPL franchise KKR in the near future.
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KKR are on the lookout for a leadership figure ever since letting go Shreyas Iyer ahead of IPL 2025. The three-time winners splurged a whopping INR 23.75 crores to acquire Venkatesh Iyer next at the mega-auction, which led to speculations that the all-rounder is the franchise’s next pick as their captain.
However, prior to the season, the Kolkata outfit named Ajinkya Rahane as their leader, given his previous experience in leading troops. Rahane’s captaincy ended up being at most average which once again raised speculations of a probable change at the helm before IPL 2026.
The rumours were further intensified after solid reports emerged of KKR trying to pursue Sanju Samson – who would not only address their need for a top-order wicketkeeper-batter but can also lead the team in the long run. Nevertheless, acquiring Samson through a trade hasn’t been easy with negotiations currently at a standstill and KKR is also aware that securing him in the auction will be even more difficult since he will be a hot commodity.
This is where Varun’s new post can play a crucial role and will be an audition for a possible captaincy position at KKR next season if he manages to deliver in SMAT 2025.
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