In a massive development, veteran India batter Ajinkya Rahane has emerged as a leading contender to lead Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

During the mega auction in Jeddah last week, Rahane was roped in by the defending IPL champions at his base price of INR 1.5 crore.

Rahane, who has fallen out of favour with India selectors, was recently removed as the captain of Mumbai for the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

However, a report published in TOI claims that KKR “specifically" bought Rahane at the grand auction for him being a “viable captaincy" option.

“Yes, at the moment it’s 90% confirmed that Ajinkya will be the new KKR captain. He was bought by KKR specifically for the purpose of being a viable captaincy option," a source was quoted as saying by TOI.

Rahane has the experience of leading Rajasthan Royals in the IPL while he has also represented Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Rising Pune Supergiant (now defunct) and Chennai Super Kings in the cash-rich league.

This will be Rahane’s second stint with KKR having earlier been signed by the franchise for IPL 2022. He was released after a disappointing season during which he managed 133 runs in seven games at a strike-rate of 103.91.

Rahane was then bought by CSK for IPL 2023, where he took the cricketing world by storm by scored 326 runs at a strike-rate of 172.49. However, IPL 2024 was below par for Rahane as he amassed 242 runs at a strike-rate of 123.47 for the Super Kings.

KKR won IPL 2024 under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer, who parted ways with the franchise and was fetched by Punjab Kings at the mega auction.

Speculations are also rife that Venkatesh Iyer, whom KKR bought for a hefty sum of INR 23.75 crore, is also among the captaincy candidates. However, the franchise is yet to commit anything officially.