The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have confirmed Ajinkya Rahane as their captain for the IPL 2026. This ends speculation about a possible leadership change. The franchise officially announced the decision on social media on 17 March.
KKR had a disappointing IPL 2025 campaign after having won the title in 2024. In the fallout, head coach Chandrakant Pandit was not retained, vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer was released, and bowling coach Bharat Arun also departed. Many expected a change of captain to follow.
However, the management chose continuity over experimentation, reportedly on the advice of new coach Abhishek Nayar. Rahane, who led KKR last season and performed well with the bat, has been trusted with the job again.
The current squad features Team India stalwarts like Varun Chakravarthy and Rinku Singh, who were part of the Men in Blue’s T20 World Cup-winning campaign. Chakravarthy also leads the T20 cricket rankings.
Team India bowler Akash Deep, who represents Bengal in domestic cricket, has also joined the franchise this year.
Among international players, Australian all-rounder Cameron Green and former West Indies captain Rovman Powell have joined KKR veteran Sunil Narine.
IPL 2026: Full KKR squad
KKR bought Mustafizur Rahman in the December 2025 IPL auction. However, due to political reasons, Shah Rukh Khan’s team was asked to release the Bangladesh pacer.
Meanwhile, injury concerns are likely to exclude Matheesha Pathirana and Harshit Rana. So, Kolkata’s pace attack suddenly looks compromised.
Ajinkya Rahane (C), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Finn Allen (WK), Tejasvi Singh (WK), Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert (WK), Rovman Powell
Sunil Narine, Cameron Green, Anukul Roy, Sarthak Ranjan, Daksh Kamra, Rachin Ravindra, Ramandeep Singh
Blessing Muzarabani, Vaibhav Arora, Matheesha Pathirana (injured), Kartik Tyagi, Prashant Solanki, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana (injured), Umran Malik, Varun Chakravarthy.
Abhishek Nayar (Head Coach), Dwayne Bravo (Mentor), Shane Watson (Assistant Coach), Tim Southee (Bowling Coach), Andre Russell (Power Coach) and Dishant Yagnik (Fielding Coach).
KKR: Predicted playing XI
Sunil Narine is an automatic pick at the top of the order. The West Indian legend has been one of KKR’s most destructive openers in recent seasons. He will likely pair with Finn Allen.
Ajinkya Rahane comes in at number three in his natural role as an anchor. He will steady the innings if the openers fall early. He will accelerate the scoring if Kolkata starts well.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi, one of the most exciting young talents in Indian cricket, bats at four and gives KKR a technically sound middle-order option.
Rinku Singh and Rovman Powell follow. Both are proven finishers who can clear the boundary at will in the death overs.
Cameron Green provides the all-rounder balance at seven. He may also be promoted in the batting order, depending on the situation.
Ramandeep Singh slots in at eight as a hard-hitting lower-order option. Singh, a brilliant fielder, is also a useful medium pacer. KKR may use Green and Singh as bowlers (2 overs each) in case they struggle to include enough pacers.
The spin department is KKR’s biggest strength. Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine form one of the deadliest spin combinations in the IPL.
With Harshit Rana ruled out and Pathirana’s fitness uncertain, the pace attack will rely heavily on Vaibhav Arora and Akash Deep to lead the charge. Umran Malik or a fit Pathirana would be the likely Impact Player option, depending on conditions.
