Ajinkya Rahane Self-Threat For KKR In IPL 2025? Veteran Indian Player Warns

When the Kolkata Knight Riders announced Ajinkya Rahane as their new leader for the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), it nearly pinned his batting position among the top three.

The franchise’s CEO, Venky Mysore, explained Rahane’s vast experience and maturity for handling an intense moment of the league favored him in becoming an automatic choice. But that means it will be tough for the side to balance and form the batting department.

Aakash Chopra warns KKR on Ajinkya Rahane’s batting position

The former Indian opening batter, Aakash Chopra, during a recent interaction on ESPNcricinfo, reckoned that Ajinkya Rahane would be troubled by the ‘captain-batter’ conflict for the entire season, which could end up affecting the franchise. He admitted that he understood the reason behind the appointment but felt that the decision had jailed them at a spot.

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“For Shreyas Iyer, they've got a domestic middle-order batter who recently helped his side win the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He is in good form. But I do understand because KKR's biggest challenge this season is the 'captain-batter' conflict that Rahane will face.” Aakash Chopra expressed this during the discussion.

“For Rahane, the best thing to do is open at Eden Gardens. Or else, bat at No. 3. Anything lower kills his chance to contribute, significantly, because he needs the powerplay.” He revealed.

Chopra outlined that with Sunil Narine impressing with the bat in the last season, the management will always want to retain him as an opener, alongside the wicketkeeper, Quinton de Kock. Venkatesh Iyer, the vice-captain of the side, will also want to ideal bat at number three, but Rahane has to take the responsibility or else it will be immensely difficult for him to contribute to the scoreboard.

“That is the conflict. Sunil Narine will open, and he opens with Quinton de Kock if he is on the team. Now, will they tell Narine not to open after the runs he scored last season?” Chopra explained.

“Of course, he will open. So, No. 3, which is ideally the position for Venkatesh Iyer, is the best you can do for Ajinkya Rahane. Or else he will have to forgo his ambitions as a batter.” The veteran added.

Ajinkya Rahane’s performance in the last three IPL seasons

The right-handed batter is one of the rarest players to be present for all the 17 seasons of the tournament to crack 4642 runs in 171 innings at an average of 30.14 and a strike rate of 123.42, shouldering on two centuries and 30 half-centuries at the best score of unbeaten 105 runs.

After a daunting edition in 2022 where Ajinkya Rahane smashed 133 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 103.90, he rediscovered for a strike rate of 172.48 with the Chennai Super Kings in 2023 to grab 326 runs in 11 innings. That was his best season since 2019, but his form again dropped in 2024.

In the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2024, Ajinkya Rahane blasted 469 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of around 165 to end as the event’s leading run-getter.

Harbhajan Singh disrespects Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy skills

Under Ajinkya Rahane, Kolkata will play the opening game of the IPL 2025 against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on March 22 at the Eden Gardens.

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Harbhajan Singh also admitted that the franchise would find it difficult to squeeze the former Indian captain in the top order, as it would have been better to name Narine or Iyer as their leader for 2025.

“Rahane's best chance is at No. 3 because the openers are fixed. If KKR had picked Rahane only for captaincy, then I feel that could have been done by someone else like Narine, Iyer, or Russell.” Harbhajan Singh concluded.