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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) is set to replace Ajinkya Rahane as their captain ahead of the next Indian Premier League (IPL) season in 2027. The franchise’s interest in securing the services of Hardik Pandya is considered a clear indication of a possible change in the leadership role.
For the last couple of days, it has been heavily speculated that KKR and a few other franchises are actively looking to bring Hardik Pandya on board from the Mumbai Indians.
KKR lost their momentum after their triumphant season in 2024
Since the departure of Shreyas Iyer after the 2024 season, the Kolkata Knight Riders have lost significant momentum in the previous two seasons. The team management appointed Ajinkya Rahane, who is a respected leader in domestic cricket and holds fantastic batting stats, as the replacement for Iyer, ahead of the 2025 season.
They last won the league back in 2024, under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir and under the observation of then-head coach Gautam Gambhir. After that, in two consecutive seasons, the team missed the play-offs.
KKR secured only seventh place in IPL 2026
After the conclusion of the IPL 2026 campaign, KKR finished in seventh place in the 10-team league with 6 wins and 7 defeats, and one washed-out match in 14 matches. After securing a string of defeats at the initial stage of the tournament, the team made a promising bounce and secured those six wins. The bounce back they made in the middle of the season was promising, but may not be enough to save Ajinkya Rahane from losing the captaincy armband.
Hardik Pandya is considered a serious contender to become the successor of Ajinkya Rahane if the talks between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Mumbai Indians prove fruitful. However, as of now, other franchises such as the Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings are also active in the race to sign Pandya.
In a latest report, CricBlogger confirms Knight Riders’ intention to appoint Hardik Pandya as their next captain, in place of Ajinkya Rahane.
“There are enough reasons to look beyond Rahane. The captaincy options are so limited at KKR that the promoters often end up using Shah Rukh Khan’s cut-out for promotional activities,” a source close to the development told the website.
“Ajinkya Rahane could lose the Kolkata Knight Riders captaincy from next season, with the franchise looking for a new leader, sources told CricBlogger. KKR’s interest in acquiring all-rounder Hardik Pandya is a strong indication that the franchise is planning to replace Rahane with another captaincy candidate,” the report also mentions.
Ajinkya Rahane was the leading run scorer for the Kolkata Knight Riders
Along with the performance of the team, Ajinkya Rahane was criticized for his batting as well. While some of the openers displayed explosive knocks in the previous season, the 38-year-old opener’s performance was far from modern T20 cricket standards as he lacked making big shots.
The right-handed batter ended as the highest run-scorer for the team in the previous IPL season with 390 runs in 13 matches.
