Neither Virat nor Iyer, These Two Stars Will Captain RCB and KKR in IPL 2025

In IPL 2025, RCB fans would love to have Virat Kohli back as a captain and one can also imagine a huge roar to support their stalwart, Kolkata fans will be expecting Venkatesh Iyer to lead the side who was purchased back by the KKR management at INR 23 Crores. The way the auction panned out for both the teams, RCB fans started speculating about the comeback of Virat Kohli as captain and Venkatesh Iyer as the face of KKR for the next few years. Virat has not been a successful captain when it comes to winning trophies where he captained for almost 9 IPL seasons and won nothing. 

Upcoming Stalwart from RCB

Rajat Patidar is potentially the next big face from RCB after Virat Kohli. Trusted and rated highly by the management, Patidar was one of the three retentions for RCB for this season before the IPL 2025 Mega Auctions. His ability to play aggressive cricket, especially against spin makes him a dangerous batsman. He has been sensational as a captain in the SMAT 2024 and also led his side into the final.

Also, It looked like Rajat did not feel the pressure of captaincy as he also scored 428 runs in 9 innings that too with a strike rate of 186 including 32 fours and 31 sixes. The added role of captaincy seems to have played in his favor and RCB could hand him the task of leading the pack for this season and looking ahead at least till the next mega-auction.

KKR silently made a steal purchase

KKR left their winning captain Shreyas Iyer but struck gold by picking Ajinkya Rahane at his base price only. In IPL 2025 Ajinkya Rahane as a tactician, can help the team going forward and allow Venkatesh Iyer to play freely without any big purse pressure. The management would look at Rahane’s record as a captain and also keep in mind his brilliant leadership during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21, which also helped India to win an incredible series.

Rahane also won the Player of the Series award in the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali 2024 Trophy, where in just 8 innings he scored 469 runs with a brilliant strike rate of 164 including 5 half-centuries. Rahane who also led Mumbai to a recent Ranji Trophy win and his form in the T20 format would enhance his chances to emerge as the leader of KRR.

These two have ample experience in leading the side. Rahane had been India’s captain and is currently leading Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. On the other hand, Rajat has been phenomenal as a captain in the SMAT 2024 and has performed incredibly well in the tournament. The two could be the face of their respective franchises this season and can come up with tactics to make the team champion.

KKR and RCB would want to have a captain who can be their long-term investment, at least for the next 3-4 years, to secure their core and build a strong team around them. Other captaincy candidates for KKR are Venkatesh Iyer, Quinton de Kock, and Rinku Singh. For RCB, it could be either Krunal Pandya or Bhuvneshwar Kumar. It would be interesting to see the management’s decision about whom they trust to lead the team and keep a healthy atmosphere.