‘Ajinkya had led India…’: KKR CEO reveals why Venkatesh Iyer was overlooked for captaincy despite ₹23.75 crore bid

KKR CEO Venky Mysore has revealed the reason behind naming Ajinkya Rahane as the captain of the franchise despite buying Venkatesh Iyer at a mouth watering price of ₹23.75 crore. Notably, KKR had bought Rahane at his base price of ₹2 crore after the batter had gone unsold during the first round at the IPL 2025 Auctions.

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Mysore said, “IPL is quite an intense tournament. Clearly, we think very well of Venkatesh Iyer, but at the same time, it (captaincy) is taxing on a youngster. We have seen lots of people having lots of challenges with it (handling captaincy) as they go forward. It (captaincy) takes a very steady hand, takes a lot of maturity and experience, which we felt Ajinkya brings with him,”

“Captaincy cannot be underestimated. This is going to be my 15th season, so I have seen a lot. It is not only about what you do on the field. There’s a lot of [other] stuff when it comes to IPL, including dealing with media, and there will be expectation in terms of the captain. At the same time, it is a new cycle, there is diversity in the team; if you have to be a successful captain you have to invest in building relationships with everybody so that you know how to get the best out of everyone. Mysore added

Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy record:

Rahane is one of the select few to have been a part of the IPL since its inception in 2008. Apart from being one of the most successful captains in domestic cricket, Rahane also brings with him IPL captaincy experience, having captained 25 matches, once with Rising Pune Supergiants and later with Rajasthan Royals.

Rahane has also captained India in 11 matches, winning 8 of them. The 36-year-old famously led India to victory in the 2021 Border Gavaskar Trophy after Virat Kohli left for India after the first Test.

While Rahane had been more or less sidelined in the cash-rich league, he found a different flavor to his batting at the top of the order for Chennai Super Kings where he improved his strike rate significantly while maintaining his classy batting touch.

Speaking about Ajinkya’s appointment as captain, Mysore said, “He has played 185 IPL games, 200 [195] international games across formats… He has led India, led Mumbai in domestic, he’s led in IPL. And he has played from season one of IPL. All that is massive. There should be no surprise at all.”

Venkatesh Iyer on captaincy:

Meanwhile, KKR had chosen Rahane to lead the franchise despite Venkatesh Iyer confirming that he was available to lead if the franchisee wished so. In an earlier interaction with ESPNcricinfo, Iyer said, “I’ve always wanted to be that person. And if captaincy comes my way, I would definitely want to do it. There’s no ambiguity surrounding this. I’ll definitely do it if it comes my way. There is no reason not to do it.”