India all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer had thrown his hat in the ring to become the new captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders, just hours after the franchise acquired him back with a surprise bid of INR 23.75 crore. However, the star player was reportedly subbed as KKR all but confirmed Ajinkya Rahane as their new captain.

In a stunning turn of events, Mumbai's Ranji Trophy captain Rahane, who famously led India to a memorable 2020/21 Test series win in Australia, is set to reprise the leadership role in IPL, according to a report in the Times of India. The former India vice-captain was picked at his base price of INR 1.5 crore at the mega auction in Jeddah last week.

"Yes, at the moment it's 90% confirmed that Ajinkya will be the new KKR captain. He was bought by KKR specifically for the purpose of being a viable captaincy option," a source to TOI.

The move from KKR comes as a huge surprise after Venkatesh was tipped to lead the side in IPL 2025, given that he understand the dynamics of the team, where he spent four years, and has worked with franchise head coach Chandrakant Pandit during the latter's stint with Madhya Pradesh.

In fact, just moments after Venkatesh was re-signed by KKR, he said that he was ready to don the leadership arm band in the impending IPL season. "I have 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 do it," he told the broadcasters JioCinema.

"I had the opportunity to captain the side in Nitish Rana’s absence when he was unfortunately injured, and I was the vice-captain as well;" he added.

A look at Rahane's IPL captaincy credentials

The only other IPL team the 36-year-old previously led was Rajasthan Royals, in 2018 and 2019. The team just won nine of the 24 matches during the period.

Rahane also led Mumbai's T20 side in 26 matches across 13 years, where the team won 19 games, before being replaced by Shreyas Iyer at the start of the 2024 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournament. Ironically, if KKR officially make Rahane their skipper, he would replace Iyer.

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