3 KKR players who are in form heading into IPL 2025 ft. Varun Chakaravarthy

The 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to kick off on March 22. The season opener will feature defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) taking on Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer, KKR claimed the IPL 2024 title, defeating SunRisers Hyderabad by eight wickets in the final. While many familiar faces will return for the 2025 season, there has been a key change in leadership.

Shreyas was not retained by the franchise and was picked up by Punjab Kings in the 2025 mega auction. This season, veteran Indian batter Ajinkya Rahane, who was acquired by KKR for INR 1.5 crore, will take over as captain.

Here’s the full KKR squad for IPL 2025:

Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer (vc), Rinku Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, Ramandeep Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Anrich Nortje, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Spencer Johnson, Luvnith Sisodia, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, and Umran Malik.

On paper, the Knight Riders look formidable. In this article, we’ll focus on three players who are in top form heading into the 2025 season.

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3 KKR players who are in form heading into IPL 2025

#1 Ajinkya Rahane

The newly appointed Kolkata Knight Riders captain, Ajinkya Rahane, has been in exceptional form lately. Mumbai won the 2024 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) under Shreyas Iyer's captaincy, with Rahane delivering an outstanding performance and claiming the Player of the Tournament award.

The 36-year-old featured in nine matches, amassing 469 runs in eight innings at an average of 58.62, which included five fifties and a highest score of 98, making him the tournament’s top run-scorer.

Furthermore, in the final four games of the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season for Mumbai, Rahane scored 293 runs, including a century and a fifty, showcasing his outstanding form. KKR will be hoping their new captain leads from the front and helps them defend their title.

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#2 Varun Chakaravarthy

Varun Chakaravarthy played a pivotal role in KKR's successful 2024 season, taking 21 wickets in 15 matches. Since then, the mystery spinner has continued to thrive, putting in strong performances for India in white-ball cricket.

In the five-match T20I series against England in January this year, Varun claimed 14 wickets at a brilliant average of 9.85, including one five-wicket haul. He then made his debut in the ODI series, picking up one wicket.

Later, Varun was selected for India's squad in the 2025 Champions Trophy, where he impressed again. He took nine wickets in three matches at an average of 15.11, including a five-wicket haul, finishing as the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament behind Matt Henry, who took 10 wickets in four games.

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#3 Harshit Rana

The third and final name on the list is right-arm pacer Harshit Rana. The 23-year-old was outstanding for KKR in the 2024 season, taking 19 wickets in 13 matches. He made his international debut during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, claiming four wickets in two games.

In the five-match T20I series against England, Harshit stepped in as a concussion substitute for Shivam Dube in the fourth game in Pune. He returned figures of 3-33 in four overs, helping India secure a 15-run victory.

In the subsequent ODI series, he made his debut in the 50-over format, taking six wickets in three games. Harshit also featured in two matches for India in the 2025 Champions Trophy, picking up four wickets as India went on to win the title. With his impressive recent performances, Harshit has been making waves, and the KKR management will be hoping he continues to deliver in the 2025 IPL.