IPL 2025: Kolkata Knight Riders name Ajinkya Rahane as skipper; Venkatesh Iyer to be his deputy

The champions of IPL 2024 Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday named Ajinkya Rahane as its captain for the 2025 season of IPL and also appointed Venkatesh Iyer as his deputy.

KKR begin their title defence against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday, March 22 at Eden Gardens.

“We are delighted to have someone like Ajinkya Rahane, who brings his experience and maturity as a leader. Also, Venkatesh Iyer has been a franchise player for KKR and brings a lot of leadership qualities. We are confident that they will combine well as we start the defense of our title,” said KKR CEO Venky Mysore in a statement.


Rahane said that it is an 'honour' to lead KKR.

"It’s an honour to be asked to lead KKR, which has been one of the most successful franchises in the IPL. I think we have an excellent and balanced squad. I look forward to working with everyone and taking up the challenge of defending our title.”

IPL 2025 KKR Squad:

Batters: Rinku Singh, Quinton de Kock (WK-Batter), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK-Batter), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Luvnith Sisodia, Ajinkya Rahane
All Rounders: Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell
Bowlers: Anrich Nortje, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Spencer Johnson, Umran Malik, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy

KKR IPL 2025 Full Schedule:

• March 22 (Saturday): KKR vs RCB – Kolkata
• March 26 (Wednesday): RR vs KKR – Guwahati
• March 31 (Monday): MI vs KKR – Mumbai
• April 3 (Thursday): KKR vs SRH – Kolkata
• April 6 (Sunday): KKR vs LSG – Kolkata
• April 11 (Friday): CSK vs KKR – Chennai
• April 15 (Tuesday): PBKS vs KKR – New Chandigarh
• April 21 (Monday): KKR vs GT – Kolkata
• April 26 (Saturday): KKR vs PBKS – Kolkata
• April 29 (Tuesday): DC vs KKR – Delhi
• May 6 (Sunday): KKR vs RR – Kolkata
• May 7 (Wednesday): KKR vs CSK – Kolkata
• May 10 (Saturday): SRH vs KKR – Hyderabad
• May 17 (Saturday): RCB vs KKR – Bengaluru