"He looked exceptional in the last 2 years while playing for CSK" - Piyush Chawla on Ajinkya Rahane captaining KKR in IPL 2025

Former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player Piyush Chawla has opined that Ajinkya Rahane is an excellent captaincy choice for the franchise. He noted that the former India captain impressed for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) with the bat in the last season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

KKR acquired Rahane for ₹1.50 crore at the IPL 2025 auction. The defending champions recently appointed the veteran India batter as their skipper, with Venkatesh Iyer as his deputy, for the upcoming edition of the prestigious league.

Speaking on Star Sports, Chawla highlighted Rahane's credentials as skipper and reckoned that the challenge for KKR would be to figure out an ideal playing XI.

"He looked exceptional in the last two years while playing for CSK. Apart from that, he has the experience. He has captained India and has captained in franchise cricket. The challenge for any team after the mega auction is to set their playing XI. Even if you have retained your core, you have to set the remaining five or six players. The earlier they do that, the better it would be for the team," he said.

Former India wicketkeeper-batter Deep Dasgupta concurred with Piyush Chawla's views on KKR appointing Rahane as their skipper.

"What can be said about Ajinkya Rahane's captaincy? He has proven himself. He performed an excellent role as captain even while captaining India. So there is no dilemma about the captaincy. I believe Ajinkya is an excellent captain," he observed.

Ajinkya Rahane did not have a great run for CSK in IPL 2024, aggregating 242 runs at an average of 20.17 and a strike rate of 123.46 in 12 innings. However, he impressed for the five-time champions in IPL 2023, smashing 326 runs at an average of 32.60 and a strike rate of 172.48 in 11 innings.

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"I will still want to open with Sunil Narine" - Deep Dasgupta picks KKR's probable playing XI for IPL 2025

Sunil Narine (488) was KKR's highest run-getter in IPL 2024. [P/C: iplt20.com]

On the same show, Deep Dasgupta picked the Kolkata Knight Riders' probable playing XI for IPL 2025.

"Probable XI - I will still want to open with Sunil Narine. Along with him, Quinton de Kock. Angkrish Raghuvanshi at No. 3, Ajinkya Rahane at No. 4, Venkatesh Iyer at No. 5, Ramandeep Singh at No. 6, Rinku Singh at No. 7 and Andre Russell at No. 8," he said.

"You can change the batting order. It will be flexible. You will have Anrich Nortje at No. 9, Harshit Rana at No. 10 and Varun Chakaravarthy at No. 11," Dasgupta added.

Piyush Chawla picked the spin-bowling duo of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy as KKR's biggest strength heading into IPL 2025. He pointed out that while batters win matches, bowlers help sides win championships.