Predicting KKR's top 3 run-getters in IPL 2025 ft. Ajinkya Rahane

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will begin their title defense on the opening night of the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) when they take on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Eden Gardens.

KKR defeated the SunRisers Hyderabad in IPL 2024 final to lift their third title after 2012 and 2014. A lot has changed since then, with the franchise parting ways with skipper Shreyas Iyer after the end of the season.

However, the Knight Riders have managed to retain their core - Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, and Andre Russell. They have also made some statement signings, roping in Ajinkya Rahane, Quinton de Kock and Anrich Nortje, among others.

They have made senior batter Ajinkya Rahane as their skipper for the new season, with Iyer as his deputy. The team will look to begin where they left off last season and hit the chords from the word go.

Ahead of another thrilling season, we try to predict three batters who can finish as KKR's top run-getters in IPL 2025.

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#1 Ajinkya Rahane

KKR will rely heavily on Ajinkya Rahane to do the bulk of the scoring this season. He is coming on the back of a breathtaking domestic season and will hope to replicate his form in IPL 2025, as Kolkata look to defend their title successfully.

The right-hander finished as the highest scorer in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, leading Mumbai to the trophy from the front. He amassed 469 runs in eight innings at an average of 58.62 and a strike rate of 164.56, including five fifties. He scored 84 in the quarterfinal against Vidarbha and 98 against Baroda in the semifinal.

Rahane has also been a consistent performer in the IPL, scoring 4642 runs in 171 innings at an average of over 30, including two centuries and 30 fifties.

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#2 Quinton de Kock

The Proteas wicketkeeper-batter was acquired by the Knight Riders for ₹3.60 crore at the mega auction last year after the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) parted ways with him.

Quinton de Kock joins KKR on the back of truckloads of IPL experience, having represented five teams in the past. The southpaw has played for the SunRisers Hyderabad, Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and Mumbai Indians, along with LSG in the past.

Overall, de Kock has aggregated 3157 runs in 107 matches at an average of 31.25 and a strike rate of 134.22, including two centuries and 23 fifties.

Although the South African is coming to the IPL on the back of an indifferent form, de Kock scored a fine half-century in one of the practice games for KKR. The franchise will rely on the senior batter to score big, and if de Kock gets his rhythm, expect a big tournament from him.

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#3 Venkatesh Iyer

The Madhya Pradesh-born all-rounder has been KKR's most consistent performer in the last few seasons. However, the franchise surprisingly parted ways with the all-rounder but re-purchased him for a whopping ₹23.75 crore at the mega auction last year.

KKR would want their highest-signing player to deliver the goods as he has done over the past few tournaments. Iyer has amassed 1326 runs in 49 innings at an average of 31.57 and a strike rate of almost 140.

Although the southpaw hasn't been in the best form in recent times, everyone would back Iyer to fire on all cylinders in IPL 2025.