Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane made an early statement ahead of IPL 2026, showing his intentions by taking a hard knock in the practice session. The veteran batsman smashed 58 off just 25 balls and completed his half-century in just 20 deliveries before voluntarily departing to allow other players to take the break.
Despite a disappointing 2025 season, with KKR finishing eighth in the table with just five wins from 14 games, the team continues to back Rahane as captain. The 37-year-old was the team’s leading scorer last season, scoring 390 points in 13 games at an average of 35.45 and a shooting percentage of 147.73, although the team is struggling to defend the title.
Going into the new season, Rahane made it clear that he is taking responsibility with a calm and optimistic attitude. “As a player and captain, every year comes with different challenges. What I have learned throughout this journey is to stay positive every time, no matter the challenge,” he said during the team’s first media interaction.
“I have been leading the team since last year and I am very grateful to the team for giving me the responsibility of leading the team. Everything is at my pace and approaches everything in a positive way. There are always opportunities, there are challenges and you always see opportunities.
“Throughout my career, my mentality has always been that if I see any challenge or something special, if there’s anything difficult, I look at it in a positive way and try to give my best as a player and as a captain,” he added.
Taking into account the lessons learned from last season, Rahane emphasized the importance of getting off to a good start while remaining consistent throughout the tournament. “As a team we want to get off to a good start this season,” he said.
“It’s a long game and you don’t want to peak too early. As a team, and the expectations from the boys, basically you’re not actually looking for a perfect game. Mistakes are going to happen throughout the game.
“But as a group, what we want to do is play a positive brand of cricket. So, as a group, as a team management, we are very confident about the performance of the team this season.”
KKR enters IPL 2026 with a completely new line-up, especially in the batting department. The franchise parted ways with experienced players like Andre Russell and Venkatesh Iyer while investing heavily in the auction, including signing Cameron Green for a record Rs 252 million.
The new squad includes attacking players like Finn Allen and Tim Seifert, along with Sunil Narine and Rahane at the top of the order.
Despite the deep batting depth, Rahane chose not to reveal the team combination. “Our batsmen group has been fantastic this year. I mean, most of the batsmen are in good form. The players from overseas have also performed well. The World Cup has been great too.
“Honestly, I’m not going to tell you the lineup, what lineup we’re going to go with, but like I said, all the hitters that are out there right now are really good at Nick, really good at Nick, and we just started our training camp before, so really excited about the season,” he said.
