IPL 2026: Ajinkya Rahane positive about captaincy challenge

Ajinkya Rahane (Pic: KKR)

Ajinkya Rahane is set to captain the KKR side despite a poor showing in the 2025 season. The Rahane-led team finished eighth, with just five wins in 14 matches. However, Rahane, who was the team's top scorer with 390 runs, is embracing the captaincy challenge in 2026.

Speaking before the start of the season, Rahane insisted that pressure is nothing new and that he is focused on approaching challenges with the right mindset.
"Every year, there are different challenges as a player and also as a captain. What I learned throughout my journey is be positive each and every time, whatever challenges are there," Rahane said.

The veteran Indian star further added that he is taking everything in his stride and looking forward to the captaincy challenge in 2026.

"I've been leading the team since last year and really grateful to the franchise that they gave me this responsibility to lead the team. Taking everything in my stride, taking everything in a positive way. There are always opportunities, there are challenges, you always see opportunities." Rahane added.

Fast start important for KKR's season: Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane has demanded a fast start for his KKR team during this IPL season. The skipper said that, despite IPL being a long tournament, starting the season strongly is important to win the competition.

"As a team, we would like to start really well this season. It's a long tournament and you don't want to peak too early. As a team, and also the expectations from the boys, basically, you don't actually looking for a perfect game. There are going to be errors throughout the tournament." Rahane said.

After releasing mainstays Andre Russell and Venkatesh Iyer and making big money signings for Cameron Green at the auction, KKR enters IPL 2026 with a completely redesigned batting unit.

Along with Sunil Narine and Rahane at the top of the order, the team now features explosive openers like Finn Allen and Tim Seifert.

KKR Squad for IPL 2026:

Ajinkya Rahane (C), Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Cameron Green, Matheesha Pathirana, Rachin Ravindra, Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Rovman Powell, Blessing Muzarabani, Harshit Rana, Ramandeep Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rahul Tripathi, Manish Pandey, Akash Deep, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, Kartik Tyagi, Anukul Roy, Tejasvi Singh, Prashant Solanki, Sarthak Ranjan, Daksh Kamra.

(With PTI Input)