Rahane, who had previously played for KKR in 2022, had been bought at his base price of Rs 1.5 crore by defending champions during the final round of bidding in the IPL mega auction in Jeddah.

The 36-year-old batter, who was bought by KKR at his base price of INR 1.5 crore in the recent auction, is set to take on the leadership role following the departure of Shreyas Iyer.

Ajinkya Rahane was asked to hand over Mumbai's T20 captaincy to Shreyas Iyer ahead of SMAT, ironically "Aju" will now lead KKR after Iyer helped them win the IPL trophy last season

This is going to be his second stint for the reigning champions. If reports are to be believed, Rahane has emerged as the frontrunner to lead KKR in the upcoming edition of the IPL.

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are believed to be eyeing Ajinkya Rahane as their captain for the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. This comes after the franchise failed to acquire their IPL 2024 title-winning captain Shreyas Iyer at the recent mega auction.

Veteran Ajinkya Rahane is likely to captain KKR in IPL 2025 after being bought at his base price. Venkatesh Iyer is also in the race.

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.'

Venkatesh Iyer was tipped to become the Kolkata Knight Riders captain in IPL 2025 after the India all-rounder was bought for a staggering ₹23.75 crore in the mega auction.

This comes after KKR bought Rahane at his base price of ₹1.5 crore at the recently concluded IPL auction in Jeddah. A source close to TOI claimed there's a 90% chance of Rahane leading KKR this season.

KKR made several shocking calls in the lead-up to the mega auction by not retaining the two Iyers, including their captain Shreyas, who will now play for Punjab Kings from IPL 2025 onwards.