The glorious career of veteran Indian cricketer Ajinkya Rahane came to a close recently as the batter announced retirement from all forms of the game ahead of the domestic season.
Rahane had last played for India in 2023, and his last professional appearance came at the IPL 2026.
Usually associated with CSK and RR in the IPL, Rahane was picked up by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL 2025 mega auction and was instated as their captain after the departure of Shreyas Iyer.
He was supposed to be a stopgap captaincy solution for KKR and led them for two seasons but with disappointing returns: KKR finished 8th and 7th under Rahane in the last two IPL editions.
Now, once again KKR have been put into a situation where they will have to decide upon a new captain for the IPL 2027 season. They have a couple of options in their already existing squad, but they can also get someone in the trade window or in the mini-auction.
5 Captaincy Options For KKR In IPL 2027 After Ajinkya Rahane Retired:
Rinku Singh
Rinku Singh is the frontrunner to become the new KKR captain.
He was KKR’s vice-captain in IPL 2026 and was touted for a leadership role by head coach Abhishek Nayar, who said, “Over the years, we’ve seen Rinku Singh evolve not only as a cricketer but also as a leader. For the past couple of years, while his performances have spoken for themselves, I think off the field, without saying a lot, he is someone that the team looks forward to [hearing]. We wanted a little more responsibility for Rinku to shoulder and I feel it’s the perfect time.”
Rinku has a decent amount of captaincy experience: he led Meerut Mavericks to the UPT20 trophy in 2024 and runner-up position in 2025 and was Uttar Pradesh’s captain in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25.
Hardik Pandya
Out of nowhere, Hardik Pandya’s name has been associated with KKR after Rahane’s retirement. It has been widely speculated that Mumbai Indians and Hardik are willing to make a trade with another franchise after MI’s underwhelming finishes in Hardik’s captaincy over the last three years.
KKR could jump in for a trade with MI for Hardik and appoint him as their new captain.
Sunil Narine
Sunil Narine is the most capped KKR player in the IPL and arguably their biggest match-winner of all-time. Narine has also featured for KKR’s sister franchises – Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, Trinbago Knight Riders, and Los Angeles Knight Riders. Rewarding him with a captain’s cap for one season is a possibility, given he understands KKR’s culture and setup.
Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav has also emerged as an outside candidate to become KKR captain for the next season if the franchise could trade him in.
As reported, Suryakumar, who is the vice-captain of the Mumbai Indians, was in line to get the captaincy of MI from Rohit Sharma, but MI traded in Hardik.
SKY has been dropped from the Indian T20I team despite leading India to the T20 World Cup 2026 trophy. If MI doesn’t trade away Hardik, Suryakumar may look towards KKR, where he had his breakthrough IPL years from 2014 to 2017. It could be a sort of homecoming for Suryakumar, who has proven his captaincy and batting mettle already.
Steve Smith
An interesting captaincy alternative for KKR could be Steve Smith. Although Smith has not played in the IPL since 2021 and has gone unsold in the intervening years, he has been in terrific form in T20 leagues around the world.
Since the start of 2022, Smith has plundered 2362 runs in 70 innings in T20 cricket at an average of 40 and a strike rate of 150. He’s smashed six centuries and 12 fifties in this period.
Smith brings lots of captaincy and playing experience in the IPL. KKR are probably hunting for a stopgap solution for only one season before the mega-auction, and Smith could potentially be the answer.
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