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The Indian Premier League 2025 season is set to begin on March 21 with ten teams clashing for glory in the cash-rich tournament. The defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will target their fourth IPL title in 2025 and seem well prepared with some of the biggest names in T20 cricket in their squad.
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After a brilliant teamwork that led them to the IPL 2024 triumph, the management retained six players prior to the 2025 player auction but the title-winning captain Shreyas Iyer was released. Kolkata also failed to retain Phil Salt, their highest run-scorer in the 2024 season and the veteran pacer Mitchell Starc.
Rinku Singh was retained for the highest amount of Rs 13 crore while Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy cost Rs 12 crore each. KKR also retained two uncapped players Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh in their somehow successful bid to retain the majority of the core group that led them to their third IPL title.
In the 2025 auction, the Knight Riders clearly showed interest in their released stars and signed back Venkatesh Iyer, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Manish Pandey and Rahmanullah Gurbaz. They shockingly splashed Rs 23.75 crore to sign Venkatesh, making him the most expensive signing in the franchise’s history.
However, apart from their big bid for Venkatesh, KKR seemed hesitant to sign high-profile names in a two-day auction. They managed to sign quality overseas stars Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje and Spencer Johnson among others. KKR wrapped up their auction by signing the veteran Indian batter Ajinkya Rahane for his base price.
KKR squad, captain and vice-captain
Kolkata are one of the three teams that are yet to reveal their captain and vice-captain for the IPL 2025. Ajinkya Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer have reportedly emerged as the leading candidates for the leadership roles ahead of the 18th edition of the tournament. Rinku Singh and Sunil Narine are also strong contenders for the captaincy roles for KKR.
KKR Squad: Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, Ramandeep Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Anrich Nortje, Quinton de Kock, Spencer Johnson, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rovman Powell, Mayank Markande, Vaibhav Arora, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Umran Malik, Ajinkya Rahane, Luvnith Sisodiya.
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