Ahead of IPL 2025, KKR CEO Venky Mysore explains the thought process behind Rahane’s selection over Venkatesh for the leadership role.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) made a bizarre decision to announce Ajinkya Rahane as their next captain when they had Venkatesh Iyer, who looked like a frontrunner to take over the responsibility. Notably, Rahane was unsold in the first round before KKR bought him at his base price in the later stage.
Ahead of IPL 2025, KKR CEO Venky Mysore explains the thought process behind Rahane’s selection over Venkatesh for the leadership role. On ESPNcricinfo, Venky explained that captaincy can tax youngsters, and Rahane has a steady head to handle the IPL pressure.
“IPL is quite an intense tournament. Clearly, we think very well of Venkatesh Iyer, but at the same time it [captaincy] is taxing on a youngster. We have seen lots of people having lots of challenges with it [handling captaincy] as they go forward. It takes a very steady hand, takes a lot of maturity and experience which we felt Ajinkya brings with him.”
While Venky feels he is the best fit, Rahane’s captaincy record isn’t inspiring. He has led an IPL team 25 times but won only nine matches at an abysmal 36% win rate.
While Ajinkya Rahane has vast experience leading his side at various levels, he might not be the best choice for leading an IPL team, especially at this stage. The biggest reason is his below-par T20 game, as Rahane has never been a T20 batter, even though he showed flashes of brilliance in patches for Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
ALSO READ:
His IPL record isn’t too great, either. While making the strongest KKR XI, Rahane won’t find a spot and can only come as an impact player at best.
Now that he is the captain, KKR will be tempted to bench Angkrish Raghuvanshi. If he weren’t the captain, Rahane could have been used as a pinch hitter in the middle overs while playing as an impact player, a role he played well for CSK.
The only good thing about Rahane’s appointment as a captain is that Venkatesh Iyer will get more time to learn captaincy skills before taking over the franchise. However, KKR had a good opportunity to hand over a fresh team to a new captain and let him take it forward with his own methods.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, and YouTube.
