According to former Indian player Aakash Chopra, Rinku Singh should be named captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL 2027. He made it clear that, even for IPL 2026, he wanted the middle-order batter to assume Ajinkya Rahane's leadership position.
In IPL 2026, Rahane guided KKR to a seventh-place finish. The three-time champions will have a new skipper for the next season of the IPL, as Mumbai has retired from all cricket.
Chopra was asked on his YouTube channel whether Rinku should be appointed KKR captain for IPL 2027 after leading his side, the Meerut Mavericks, to the title in the UP T20.
"I had said this earlier as well. I said this last year as well. I had said this after going to Kolkata as well. This question was asked in many places about who should be KKR's next captain, whether they should continue with Ajinkya Rahane, and, if not Ajinkya, then who. I was constantly saying that the guy is ready and sitting with you.
Rinku Singh is ready. Rinku Singh has captaincy experience. Rinku Singh is slightly underrated for sure, but he is the kind of character you need as a captain. He takes everyone along. He is kind of unassuming. He is a match-winner, performer, and contributor," Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
Rinku Singh’s performances won’t be affected by captaincy, as per Chopra, and he added that the T20 World Cup 2026 winner puts the team ahead of himself.
The Kolkata Knight Riders may also try to sign a new captain in the IPL 2027 auction, according to Aakash Chopra.
"He is the guy around whose shoulders you can rest your arm, explain things, and have a conversation. So, in my humble opinion, Rinku Singh should be made the captain because KKR will go shopping for a captain," he said.
The former cricket player turned analyst stated that he would rather have Rinku as captain than an international player, even though he believes the rumored Hardik Pandya trade may not happen.
"They might get a foreign captain because now I am not 100 percent certain about Hardik Pandya's trade being true. So if you don't get a captain at all, you will have to go overseas, unless, of course, you are thinking about Rinku Singh, and if I am KKR, I will think of Rinku because Rinku hai taiyaar," Chopra added.
Rinku Singh has 1,394 runs and a strike rate of 145.97 in 73 IPL games for the Kolkata Knight Riders. In the 2026 IPL, he scored 295 runs at a strike rate of 148.98 over 11 innings.
