Beyond Venkatesh Iyer: KKR face captaincy conundrum despite impressive IPL 2025 mega auction

The IPL 2025 Auction is now behind us with all the teams filling up their squads for the new season. Kolkata Knight Riders, the defending champions, were able to assemble a strong squad that seems ready to go all out and compete for the playoff spots yet again. A lot has changed since the last season for KKR, with changes in the support staff and with the players.

While they were able to retain their core during the retentions itself, KKR had to let go of the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Phil Salt, Mitchell Starc and Nitish Rana during the auctions. Their costliest buy was Venkatesh Iyer at a whopping price of Rs. 23.75 Crore, which caught everyone by surprise. Despite this, they were able to go out and bring back some of the players from the 2024 squad that won them the title.

However, the biggest question seems to be who will be the new captain at the helm of things. KKR CEO Venky Mysore said after the auction that they will need to have a long discussion about the matter but the general assumption will be that Venkatesh will be the one to lead them next season.

But is he the right choice or are there someone else who can take up the mantle?

Can Venkatesh pull off the job?

Venkatesh has been with KKR since 2021 and he has been an integral part of the side over the past few seasons. A calm and composed character on the field, the all-rounder has already put his hand up for being the new captain of the side.

“I’ve always believed that captaincy is just a tag, but leadership is about creating an environment where everyone feels they can play for this team and contribute. If given the responsibility, I would be more than happy to take it on. Absolutely,” said Venkatesh.

While he did lead KKR in a game when then-skipper Nitish Rana was injured, there isn’t much experience for the all-rounder in the role. However, KKR are known for giving such roles to their trusted players, as was seen with Nitish during the IPL 2023 season when he captained the side in Shreyas Iyer’s absence.

Rahane a dark horse?

Ajinkya Rahane returned to KKR as he was bought for his base price of 1.5 Crore. A veteran of the IPL and having been in the captaincy role for India in their famous Border-Gavaskar Trophy win in 2020-21, Rahane could be a dark horse for the role.

The Mumbai batter had rejuvenated himself as T20 star during his stint with the Chennai Super Kings, where he had made the No.3 spot his own. A good hand as an opener as well, Rahane could find himself being in the playing XI during the season.

However, it does seem like stumbling block for Rahane would be the fact his Mumbai teammate Angkrish Raghuvanshi could be the man KKR may try at No.3 going forward. This could potentially mean Rahane may have to warm the bench or be used as an impact player.

Any foreign options?

If it comes to the foreign options, the first 2 names that would come up are Sunil Narine and Andre Russell. The West Indies duo are synonymous with the franchise and are the first 2 names on the teamsheet. Narine has captained the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders and Los Angeles Knight Riders, sister teams of KKR, in the past, but his record hasn’t been impressive with both sides. Russell’s injury concerns are a major issue for KKR so it is unlikely they may turn to them.

The next 2 options are Quinton de Kock and Rovman Powell. De Kock has captained South Africa in the past and is currently free of any international commitments. His full focus will be on KKR for now and he could be one of the sure-shot starters for them.

Powell is the current West Indies skipper but his chances in IPL have been few and far. He seems to be in the side as a backup for Russell at the moment and that could be the role he will play throughout the season.

The KKR think tank does have a big issue to solve in front of them and it does seem like the Venkatesh option is the one they may take up. With the familiarity of working with Chandrakant Pandit in the domestic circuit and the presence of experiences stars in the ranks, the all-rounder could just prove that captaincy may end up being a tag.

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