The captaincy of Kolkata Knight Riders has never been easy in the IPL. Throughout its storied history, KKR has seen great success under one name – Gautam Gambhir. But even before the Gambhir era, the foundations were shaky. The early years under Sourav Ganguly were defined by off-field friction rather than on-field results. The “Dada” era was marked by a public power struggle with coach John Buchanan and the infamous “multiple captaincy” experiment, leaving the franchise in a state of constant turmoil.
It wasn’t until 2011 when the team went from local hero to appointing Gambhir that the revolving door finally stopped. After Gambhir left, the search continued. Dinesh Karthik, Eoin Morgan and Shreyas Iyer all walked through that door and eventually moved on – although Iyer, now the head of PBKS, lhe got the biggest mark by guiding KKR to their third star in 2024.
However, since then, KKR have been struggling to find an effective leader. Ajinkya Rahane’s era was stunning. Last season’s eighth place finish has not followed any real improvement this time around, with Kolkata still stuck in the same place – living on the edge.
Now every match feels like a final. One more loss and it could be curtains for them in IPL 2026.
Usually, in a situation like this, franchises look to the future and identify players they can build around for the next five years. In this list, Rahane is a name that doesn’t quite fit.
At 37 and in the twilight of his career, the Mumbai batsman’s powers seem to be waning, suggesting a changing of the guard may be in order. KKR already have an ideal replacement for Rahane in Angkrish Raghuvanshi. But who takes the tape and runs with it?
RINK SINGH ENTRANCE
Rinku Singh is KKR’s vice-captain in IPL 2026 (PTI Photo)
The 28-year-old has been with KKR since 2018 and has become synonymous with the franchise over the past few years. He was named vice-captain before the season and even donned the captain’s cap during the second half of the match against MI.
Although he looked a little confused in that game, the last two games showed his character and desire to win as he kept pushing the players. He played a key role in the wins against RR and LSG and seems to have his mojo back.
He also captained his state, Uttar Pradesh, in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and that was enough to convince Mohammed Kaif to vouch for him as the next KKR captain.
“KKR should bring up Rinku Singh as a future captain. Rinku Singh is an all-format player. Even though he is not part of the Test team, he can bat well in all formats. I am from UP and know what he does for UP. A lot of batsmen are scoring but his runs are winning. So the guy is ready and he is the captain of UP on his YouTube,” Kaif said.
“He’s got the mental strength to handle captaincy and batting together. They’ve got a ready guy.”
Right now, KKR are in desperate need of a new direction and Rinku could be just the man to lead them there.
TEAM COMBINATION
One of KKR’s biggest problems this season has been placing Ajinkya Rahane at the top of the order.
It seemed to be working initially, but Rahane’s strike rate started to drop and that directly affected Kolkata’s power-play scores.
The loss against CSK stemmed from Rahane failing to accelerate outside the power play despite spending ample time in the middle.
The same trend continued against GT, RR and LSG for the KKR skipper, leaving the pressure on the rest of the batting line-up to undo the damage.
KKR can completely revamp the look of their top order if Rahane makes his way, allowing one of Tim Seifert or Finn Allen to open alongside Angkrish Raghuvanshi or even Cameron Green.
The Australian all-rounder is slowly settling in and this could be a great chance for KKR to maximize his potential. But that can’t happen without Rahane stepping aside.
If Rinku becomes the captain, it could allow KKR to be more dynamic with their batting order and perhaps even more adventurous with their approach.
ALLOW YOUTH TO ENTRY
One picture went viral on social media – a young Tejasvi Singh watching Manish Pandey about to come in as a shock sub against LSG.
It said it all.
Fortunately for KKR, Pandey was not needed and they were they saved Rinku’s heroism. But that was one of the biggest criticisms of the current think tank KKR – they just don’t trust the young enough.
Tejasvi was bought for Rs. 3 crore and is a prolific lower-order run-scorer known for his performances in the Delhi Premier League. Another DPL star, Sarthak Ranjan, also makes the bench – a power forward who could easily play a role in the middle order.
Tejasvi smashed 29 sixes in the 2025 edition of DPL, while Ranjan has scored 449 runs in nine matches and has one hundred and four fifties.
This is exactly the kind of talent that other teams are running into while KKR seem to be lagging behind.
They need to fix this quickly and using Rinku as a captain could be the first step.
THINKING LONG TERM
As much as KKR would like to hope against hope and believe they can win all their remaining matches, the playoffs are brutally tight.
One loss could spell disaster.
And if that happens, then Kolkata should stop looking at quick fixes and start building a team around Rink – someone who can stay with the franchise as captain for the next five to six years.
Before next season, he would have time to settle into the role and start shaping the team with his own ideas and identity.
And sometimes unconventional choices work best.
RCB struck gold with Rajat Patidar allowing the rest of the team to play to their strengths. Kolkata could achieve the same success with Rinku as they know this series inside and out.
KKR now have to think long term and Rinku fits into that plan much more than Rahane.
Breakups can be painful.
But sometimes they are necessary.
And for KKR, it looks like one of those moments.
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– The end
Issued by:
Akshay Ramesh
Published on:
April 29, 2026 12:19 PM IST
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