"What will the captain do?" - Aakash Chopra on KKR's potential challenges in IPL 2025

Former India player Aakash Chopra has opined that the Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) biggest challenge in IPL 2025 would be to find an ideal batting position for their captain Ajinkya Rahane. He pointed out that the veteran batter is unlikely to get a spot in the top three, the positions that suit his batting style.

KKR didn't retain their last year's skipper Shreyas Iyer ahead of the IPL 2025 auction and couldn't reacquire him at the mega auction either. They bought Rahane for ₹1.50 crore and recently appointed him as their skipper, with Venkatesh Iyer as his deputy.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener pointed out that Rahane would have to figure out his position in KKR's batting order.

"The challenge is - What will the captain do? It's going to be a massive overriding theme as to what would the captain himself want to do. If they try to make the XI and think what was good for them, it was Sunil Narine playing as an opener with Phil Salt. So if they want to take forward a similar combination, then Sunil Narine as an opener and Quinton de Kock with him," he said (7:00).

Chopra added that the KKR skipper is unlikely to get a position in the top three if the franchise follows last season's template.

"So Rahane or Venkatesh Iyer at No. 3? It worked best for them when Venky used to come at No. 3, sent Angkrish Raghuvanshi in the middle, then Shreyas Iyer, and there was a lot of fluidity. What will he do with his batting order? It's going to be a massive question. It's a dilemma," he observed.

Ajinkya Rahane endured a slightly underwhelming season for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2024. He aggregated 242 runs at an average of 20.17 and a strike rate of 123.46 in 12 innings last season.

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"You might see slightly less experience in the pace-bowling department" - Aakash Chopra on KKR's other potential challenge in IPL 2025

Anrich Nortje is one of the overseas seamers in KKR's IPL 2025 squad. [P/C: iplt20.com]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra opined that the presence of a relatively less experienced seam-bowling attack could be the Kolkata Knight Riders' other challenge in IPL 2025.

"You might see slightly less experience in the pace-bowling department. We don't know about Anrich Nortje. He has missed the entire Champions Trophy, and when he gets injured, it's a long one. Then only Spencer Johnson and many Indians will be seen there," he said (8:30).

The former KKR player added that the three-time champions might be challenged while trying to get either Spencer Johnson or Anrich Nortje to perform the role Mitchell Starc did last year, especially in the knockouts.

"The Indians are good. Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora are there. Andre Russell - blows hot, blows cold when we see from the bowling point of view. Mitchell Starc used to be there earlier. Now Spencer Johnson/Anrich Nortje. Will it work or not? It's kind of a tightrope walk," Chopra observed.

Aakash Chopra acknowledged that KKR have two overseas wicketkeeper-batter options in Quinton de Kock and Rahmanullah Gurbaz. However, he added that the absence of a prominent Indian wicketkeeper-batter in the squad could be another challenge for the Ajinkya Rahane-led side.