Stats: Ajinkya Rahane set to become first Indian player to captain three IPL franchises

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season will get underway on March 22 and the teams have already assembled their squads for the two-month cricketing action. The mega auction in November 2024 led to a major reshuffle in most of the teams.

India batter Ajinkya Rahane saw himself going back to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) after spending the 2022 season with them. The highly experienced player also saw himself becoming the captain for the IPL 2025 season. With that, the right-hander is set to become the first Indian player to captain three different IPL teams and the fourth player overall to do so. Former Sri Lankan captains Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, and Australian batter Steve Smith are the other players to skipper three IPL teams. 

List of players to captain three IPL teams

The 36-year-old Mumbai batter has captained Rising Pune Super Giants and Rajasthan Royals so far. With him being appointed as KKR captain, he is all set to create the record on the opening night of the season against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Saturday.

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Ajinkya brings with him maturity and experience: KKR CEO Venky Mysore

Earlier in the week, KKR CEO Venky Mysore shed light on why Rahane was appointed the captain instead of Venkatesh Iyer who was named the vice-captain. Mysore highlighted how intense an IPL season is with all the pressure to deal with and commitments to fulfil. The management did not feel like putting all that burden on the young shoulders of Iyer.

"IPL is quite an intense tournament. We think very well of Venkatesh Iyer, but at the same time, [captaincy] is taxing on a youngster. We have seen lots of people facing challenges with it as they go forward. It takes a very steady hand, a lot of maturity, and experience, which we felt Ajinkya brings with him. It takes a very steady hand, takes a lot of maturity and experience, which we felt Ajinkya brings with him," Mysore said.