KKR IPL 2025 Team, Captain, Full Match Schedule, List Of Retained Players And More

Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane, will aim to kick off their campaign on a promising note. The Indian Premier League 2025 will begin on Mar 22. Last year, it was under Shreyas Iyer's captaincy that KKR won its 3rd IPL trophy. 

In their first game, KKR will play Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Eden Gardens.

The 36-year-old Rahane, who has played the majority of his international cricket in whites, has reinvented himself in the shortest format. This was evident in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, where he emerged as the leading run-getter with 469 runs at a strike rate of 164.56.

Rahane has played for KKR in the past and the franchise bought him for his base price of Rs 1.5 crore at the mega auction.

KKR did not have too many captaincy options in the squad. Among the Indian players, they had to choose between Rahane, Venkatesh and Rinku Singh.

KKR used all six retentions to keep their core intact, Rinku Singh being the costliest at Rs 13 crore. Power-hitting all-rounder Andre Russell and spinners Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy were retained for Rs 12 crore each. KKR retained Ramandeep Singh and Harshit Rana for Rs 4 crore each.

Apart from Rahane, some of the big names that KKR acquired at the auctions include Venkatesh Iyer (Rs 23.75 crore), Quinton de Kock (Rs 3.60 crore), and Anrich Nortje (Rs 6.50 crore).

Here’s everything you need to know about the Kolkata Knight Riders’ 2025 IPL campaign:

Batters: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Rinku Singh, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Wk), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Luvnith Sisodia

All-Rounders: Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell

Bowlers: Anrich Nortje, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Spencer Johnson, Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy

• Rinku Singh

• Varun Chakaravarthy

• Andre Russell

• Sunil Narine

• Ramandeep Singh

• Harshit Rana

Ajinkya Rahane is the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders for IPL 2025.

Bharat Arun is the bowling coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders for IPL 2025.

Dwayne Bravo is the mentor of the Kolkata Knight Riders for IPL 2025.

(With PTI inputs)