Kolkata : Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), champion of IPL 2024 brought various players in IPL 2025 Mega Auction on 24-25 November, 2024.
However, not only did they fail to buy their IPL 2024 winning captain Shreyas Iyer but also was unable to choose any proper captain material.
Although, the team comprises of several overseas captain materials like Quinton De Kock, Rovman Powell, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and so on, it is unclear still now who’ll captain the side.
If we look at Indian captaincy options, there’re Venkatesh Iyer, veteran Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh, and so on. Let’s take a look on such probables.
Top 10 players who can captain KKR in IPL 2025
(1) Venkatesh Iyer :
Venkatesh Iyer is the forerunner for KKR captaincy in IPL 2025. He was also the vice captain for last 2 years and has been with the franchise for 4 years. With his potential to hit big and experience of domestic Cricket, he can be a great captain in the side. In IPL he has played 50 matches, scoring 1326 runs.
(2) Rinku Singh :
Although Rinku Singh has no prior captaincy experience, he has been with the side for 6 years and has good chemistry with players. The giant hitter has played 45 IPL matches and scored 893 runs.
(3) Manish Pandey :
Manish Pandey has been one of the greatest domestic players and leader in Indian Cricket circuit. He is experienced captaining India A, Karnataka. The only issue he had was inconsistency due to which he found it difficult to feature in playing 11. He was also part of KKR’s winning team of IPL 2014, 2024. Out of 171 IPL Matches, he has scored 3850 runs.
(4) Ajinkya Rahane :
Ajinkya Rahane, the famous Indian captain for guiding the team in 2021 Border Gavaskar Trophy win without main players is also another good captaincy option. Despite his inconsistency with Bat, he has been a terrific leader, also guided Mumbai to Irani Cup, Ranji Trophy victories last season. He also captained Rajasthan Royals previously. The experienced veteran has played 185 IPL Matches and scored 4642 runs.
(5) Quinton de Kock :
South African talisman keeper Batter Quinton de Kock is a good captain option if the team is looking at overseas players to lead the side. He has led South Africa for brief stint previously thereby adding to his captaincy experience. The keeper has also played 107 IPL matches, scoring 3157 runs.
(6) Rovman Powell :
The West Indies captain Rovman Powell is also another option to lead the side in IPL 2025. He is the captain of West Indies T20I side, and did his work brilliantly till now. Apart from being a hard hitter, he also does good bowler rotations being calm and composed. Out of 26 IPL matches, he has scored 360 runs with strike rate of 147.54.
(7) Andre Russell :
The giant hitter Andre Russell has been with KKR side since 2014 , and is a key part of the team. He has the captaincy experience in Carribbean Premier League , holds the record of scoring century and taking hattrick in same match in captaincy debut. He can be possible captain option owing to his long stay with KKR. Out of 126 IPL matches, he has scored 2484 runs and picked 115 wickets.
(8) Sunil Narine :
KKR’s main player since 2012 , playing vital roles in all their 3 title wins, Sunil Narine knows ins and outs of the team. He has contributed for the team both with Bat and Ball, and is an experienced captain in various leagues. Out of 176 IPL Matches, he has scored 1534 runs at a strike rate of 165.84 and has taken 180 wickets.
(9) Moeen Ali :
Moeen Ali has been an experienced all rounder and captain at international level. He has good captaincy experience in both league and international Cricket for England and can provide a good leadership option for the men in purple. Out of 67 IPL matches, he scored 1162 runs and taken 35 wickets.
(10) Mayank Markande :
Although Mayank Markande is unlikely to captain KKR but he has good experiences captaining Punjab side in Ranji Trophy. The spinner has played 37 IPL matches and picked up 37 wickets.
