KKR’s new captain also says his deputy Venkatesh Iyer “deserves” his hefty auction price tag, as the franchise gears up to defend their title
Sreshth Shah13-Mar-20255:11
Chopra: Rahane could face ‘captain-batter conflict’
It was only three months ago that Chandrakant Pandit and Venkatesh Iyer were sitting in the Madhya Pradesh camp plotting against Ajinkya Rahane and his Mumbai team before the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final. Now, as IPL 2025 approaches, the three are on the same side with a common goal: crafting a winning formula for defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).With six key players retained and several familiar faces re-signed at the auction, KKR have kept the core of their title-winning squad, ready to take on the new season. The only major missing piece? Former mentor Gautam Gambhir and his coaching staff, who are now with the India national team. But in Dwayne Bravo, KKR have likely found a champion – pun intended – replacement.That said, with Bravo’s vibrant persona in stark contrast to Gambhir’s reserved intensity, might we see a change in KKR’s approach in the coming season? “I think it’s going to be disrespectful of me not to try and find out some of the good things he [Gambhir] did last season,” Bravo told the media in Kolkata on Thursday. “But also the core of the team is here, and that was the duty of the coach and myself to go back into the auction and try our best to get back as much as the same squad of players from the championship-winning team, and we were able to get that.Related
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“But I think GG [Gambhir] has his style and I have my style, and we both have been successful in our own ways. I definitely messaged him a few times and stuff, so yeah… But again, I will be leaning a lot on the guys here because they had a successful formula, and it’s to follow that.”One thing that was made clear in Thursday’s chat was KKR’s desire to not allow Gambhir’s absence to become a central theme of their new season. When Venkatesh was asked about his opinion on the change in mentors, Pandit interjected: “Excuse me guys, please. You know the current scenario. Let us not go back. He [Bravo] has already answered on that, so, please.”In Bravo, they have a mentor whose T20 credentials are nearly unmatched. His 17 titles in T20 competitions are the most for any player. His five titles as captain – all in the Caribbean Premier League – are behind only MS Dhoni (9) and Rohit Sharma (8), and equal with Shoaib Malik.Rahane, who returns to the KKR camp after a forgettable 2021 season with the franchise, acknowledged Bravo’s value. “It is really exciting to work with him,” Rahane, KKR’s new captain, said. “Obviously, he’s been the [second] most capped T20 player in history, so he brings a lot of experience to the table. He’s a hard-working tactician of what I’ve heard of him. I’ve always seen him go around the boundary line, and [he] keeps talking to the bowlers. So I’m really excited to play under him.Venkatesh Iyer, Chandrakant Pandit, Dwayne Bravo and Ajinkya Rahane address the media•Kolkata Knight Riders
“And see, nothing can beat experience. He’s played so many games, [and] he’s won so many games for West Indies and the franchises that he’s played for. So, obviously, for us, working with him, I expect that I’ll get to learn a lot with him both individually as well as in a team.”Rahane himself comes into IPL 2025 with a lot of eyes on him. When the auction took place, in November 2024, Mumbai and Rahane had played only one Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match in the season. While Mumbai were one of the tournament favourites, very few would have imagined him going on to finish as the highest run-scorer. Bought for INR 1.5 crore (USD 180,000 approx.) – after initially being ignored by all teams and later picked by KKR at his base price in the accelerated round – KKR’s Rahane deal looks like a masterstroke in hindsight. But where he bats for KKR remains to be seen, Rahane said. Separately, he backed Venkatesh to come good on his INR 23.75 crore (USD 2.83 million approx.) price tag.”I have always played wherever the team wanted me to play throughout my career, and that’s been my thinking,” Rahane said. “Always team comes first. Still, for the first game, we have eight days to go, and we need to have more conversations with the coach and mentor. But whatever the team wants, I will always give my best on that particular number.””At the same time, I do want to tell you all that Venkatesh deserves that price. People are talking about all these things, but he has done well for this franchise on number of occasions. So I think he has deserved that price.”The reality is that pre-season questions around a price tag as hefty as Venkatesh’s are hard to avoid. Venkatesh has become familiar with this line of questioning over the last three months, and he said there will be pressure; but come the IPL, pressure is something every player experiences in some form.”Wherever I go, I get asked this question, so it [pressure] exists, right?” Venkatesh said. “You can’t ignore it altogether, but when the IPL starts, it really doesn’t matter. Pressure is always there irrespective. If not the price tag, it’ll be something else. Selection, performing at your batting position, playing at multiple positions, bowling, fielding – there’s pressure in everything for everyone. So the pressure will still be there. It’s just up to me now on how I absorb the pressure. I can’t ignore it altogether, so I’ll be looking to absorb it instead while fulfilling my responsibilities.”Bravo finished the chat by explaining how, having worked with Shah Rukh Khan at Trinbago Knight Riders in the CPL over the past decade, he is keen to give back to the man who invested in franchise cricket in his home island, Trinidad and Tobago.”In the CPL, I started off with the Trinbago Night Riders when SRK bought the team, and I was one of the happiest persons on the planet to know that someone like him showed an interest to buy a team – not only in the Caribbean, but my hometown,” Bravo said. “I was able to help build the Trinbago Knight Riders into the most successful franchise in CPL history.”That energy and that vibe I’m going to try to bring that here as well. It’s already a successful team, you know – behind Mumbai and CSK [both sides that Bravo has previously represented], we have the third-most trophies in the cabinet. We are looking to build on that, and I think with a squad like this, we have every opportunity to do so.”As for the toughest question of the evening: “Is Bravo releasing a new song to seal his KKR association?” Bravo replied, wearing a smile, that the Caribbean version of would have to wait.
