Should Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) look ahead to Ajinkya Rahane for the captaincy role in the IPL 2026 season? This has been a persistent question since the conclusion of last season, where the former league winners failed to qualify for the play-offs. As a batsman, Rahane’s ability is beyond any doubt, but is he good enough to lead KKR?
The former India cricketer, who has also played for Kolkata Knight Riders, also expressed doubts over captain Ajinkya Rahane. According to Chopra, franchises need to be clear about their plans.
Aakash Chopra questions KKR’s clarity during the auction
During the RevSports event, Aakash Chopra said that KKR should choose their captain from the primary stage of the auction and not during the closing moments. KKR acquired the services of Ajinkya Rahane for Rs 1.5 crore for the IPL 2025 season. Interestingly, he was initially unsold during the auction. Later, KKR appointed him to lead the team as captain, replacing Shreyas Iyer.
Chopra wanted to say that if the franchise had a clear vision, they should have gone for Rahane early in the auction.
“When you accelerated the auction, at the second or third chance, you thought, let’s get Ajit here. I mean, your captaincy option cannot be the third option. When his name came first, you should have removed him… For the captain, you touch the extra money because he is my captain. In the Twenty20 format, the captain is very important,” explained the former cricketer.
Ajinkya Rahane is likely to remain the captain of KKR in the IPL 2026 season as well
Rahane is likely to remain the captain of the team for the IPL 2026 season as well. But former KKR don’t trust him. Chopra felt that Ajinkya would like to bat as an opener. Sunil Narine will also be there to open the slot. Therefore, if KKR continues with captain Ajinkya Rahane then it may have to deal with the batting combination.
“So, now they have made Ajju the captain. I am sure they can really continue. But with Ajju’s captaincy, there was a small hurdle. That is, you have to open him up. You have to play him,” he said.
Why should Kolkata Knight Riders make Rinku Singh the captain?
The former cricketer has deep faith in Rinku Singh instead of Rahane. He clearly said that Rinku Singh could be a good choice for the leadership role in place of Rahane.
“There is one person, Rinku Singh. He is a very good person. He is a very likeable character. He has already captained UP20 and UP. So, you can give him a chance…so give him a chance. I will see what happens. So why not bring him to Rinku Singh?” Aakash Chopra raised questions for Kolkata Knight Riders.
Rinku Singh was the captain of Meerut Mavericks in the UPT20 league. Later, he was appointed as the captain of Uttar Pradesh cricket team in the Ranji Trophy 2024–25 season, replacing Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
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