All KKR Captains in IPL History from Sourav Ganguly to Ajinkya Rahane

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has announced Ajinkya Rahane as their new captain ahead of IPL 2025. KKR made this development known on Tuesday as they gear up for another competitive campaign. Rahane takes up the vacant role after joining the current IPL defending champions, as per the club’s official statement.

KKR has had a great collection of captains throughout their IPL campaigns. Each skipper brings something new to the team as KKR challenges other franchises for a chance at more titles each season. Let’s see the list of KKR captains in IPL history from Sourav Ganguly to Ajinkya Rahane.

1. Sourav Ganguly – 2008 and 2010 (48 PCT in 27 games)

KKR appointed Sourav Ganguly as the franchise’s first-ever captain in 2008. The skipper had a turbulent first year as KKR’s on-field leader and had to leave his role after just one season. However, he would return to his previous role as team captain in 2010 on the back of impressive performances in 2009.

Ganguly played in 27 games as KKR captain and won 13 games out of 27. He lost 14 matches as the team’s skipper.

2. Brendon McCullum – 2009 (23 PCT in 13 games)

‘Baz-ball’ specialist Brendon McCullum led KKR for a sole season in 2009. His tough time at the helm saw KKR lose over 60% of their matches and won only 3 games as skipper. KKR finished rock bottom at IPL 2009 to effectively end McCullum’s chances as future team captain.

3. Jacques Kallis – 2011 (50 PCT in 2 games)

KKR briefly relied on Kallis for pitch leadership at IPL 2011. The cricketer played 2 games and lost and won 1 each.

4. Gautam Gambhir – 2011 to 2017 (56 PCT in 122 games)

India’s current head coach Gautam Gambhir is the KKR’s longest-serving skipper ever after captaining the side for over 10-dozen games. He also has the highest win PCT (56.55%) among skippers even with over 30+ games as KKR team captain.

KKR won 69 games with Gambhir as skipper and lost 51 matches under his leadership.

5. Dinesh Karthik – 2018 to 2020 (51 PCT in 37 games)

Karthik handled captaincy affairs for the Kolkata-based franchise throughout 3 seasons. He stepped down halfway through the 2020 season for another player to take up the role.

6. Eoin Morgan – 2020 and 2021 (45 PCT in 24 games)

Morgan is the third overseas player to captain KKR throughout the franchise’s history.

7. Shreyas Iyer – 2022 and 2024 (58 PCT in 29 games)

Shreyas captain KKR to their third-ever IPL title in 2024. He was also the team skipper in 2022 before his unavoidable absence in 2023.

8. Nitish Rana – 42 PCT in 14 games

Iyer was absent throughout IPL 2023, paving the way for deputy-skipper Nitish Rana. Iyer’s deputy captained KKR for 14 games and won 6 games.

Ajinkya Rahane Announced as KKR Captain for IPL 2025

Senior Team India batter Ajinkya Rahane will become KKR captain at IPL 2025. The announcement came on March 3, 2025 through a social media post on KKR’s official handles. Rahane joined the KKR franchise during the IPL 2025 mega auction for ₹ 1.5 crore last year.

Who Will Be Ajinkya Rahane’s Deputy Captain at IPL 2025?

Rahane will receive leadership support from Venkatesh Iyer throughout IPL 2025. The Madhya Pradesh all-rounder cost KKR a mammoth ₹ 23.75 crore at auction and will be Rahane’s deputy captain. Iyer’s announcement as KKR’s vice-captain came in the same statement that confirmed Rahane as the team skipper.

Full KKR IPL 2025 Squad

Ajinkya Rahane (C), Venkatesh Iyer (V-C), Andre Russell, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anrich Nortje, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Luvnith Sisodia, Manish Pandey, Mayank Markande, Moeen Ali, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Spencer Johnson, Sunil Narine, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, and Varun Chakravarthy.

Full KKR IPL 2025 Match Schedule