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

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.

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.

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.

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.

India all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer had thrown his hat in the ring to become the new captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders, just hours after the franchise acquired him back with a surprise bid of INR 23.75 crore.

Ajinkya Rahane is likely set to captain Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2025 after being bought for Rs 1.5 crore at the auction. Despite being dropped as Mumbai's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy captain, Rahane's leadership experience is highly regarded,