IPL 2026 | 'Shouldn't bat at anything less than number three...': Lakshmipathy Balaji on Ajinkya Rahane

Lakshmipathy Balaji, Ajinkya Rahane (Pic: File Pic)

The upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to kick off from March 28. So far, the schedule of only first 20 matches has been released due to state elections.

Ahead of the cash-rich league, former Team India cricketer Lakshmipathy Balaji feels that Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) skipper Ajinkya Rahane should bat in the top order.

He also explained the reason behind his thought of Rahane batting in the top order by saying that it will allow him to settle down and then score runs for the side.

"I always feel that KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane should bat in the top order. He shouldn't bat at anything less than number three. He has done phenomenally well with CSK at number three and scored a lot of runs. So, he batting one down would be good for both, him and KKR. Cameron Green can come out to bat at number four. That will give him time to settle down and then start going after the bowlers. So, a top four of Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Ajinkya Rahane and Cameron Green is going to be the go-to one," he said.

The former cricketer then said that players such as Cameron Green, Finn Allen or Angkrish Raghuvanshi should step up for the team.

"Somebody needs to step in now. Probably, Cameron Green or Finn Allen. And of course, you have a young talent like Angkrish Raghuvanshi. Their time has come now. If they do well, KKR will get massive momentum. Their performance will surely be something to watch out for," said Balaji.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will kick off their campaign by playing a clash against Mumbai Indians (MI) on March 29 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

IPL 2026, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians: Full Squads

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

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Trent Boult, Suryakumar Yadav, Quinton de Kock (WK), Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Corbin Bosch, Hardik Pandya (C), Jasprit Bumrah, Ryan Rickelton (WK), Will Jacks, Mayank Rawat, Mayank Markande, Sherfane Rutherford, Raghu Sharma, Atharva Ankolekar, Tilak Varma, Ashwani Kumar, Raj Bawa, Danish Malewar, Robin Minz (WK), Allah Ghazanfar, Naman Dhir, Mohammed Salahuddin Izhar.

(With ANI Inputs)