Former India player Mohammad Kaif said that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) needed to groom Rinku Singh as their future captain. The star Indian batter has been a key part of the team for the last few seasons. The upcoming 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) will be his eighth year with the KKR side.
He also added that Rinku has the potential to lead the KKR team. He also shared his impressive record in domestic cricket.
Kaif asserted in his latest YouTube video: “KKR should groom Rinku Singh as a future captain. Rinku Singh is an all-format player. Although he is not part of the Test team, he can bat well in all formats. I come from UP and I know what he does for UP. A lot of batters score runs, but his runs come in winning cause. So, that guy is ready and captains UP.”
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“He has the mental strength to handle captaincy and batting together. They have a guy who is ready. Now it remains to be seen if they give him the captaincy after Rahane, do it mid-season, or make him the vice-captain. Just get him in the mix, it will be a long-term investment for KKR,” he shared.
“Even that call was taken very late. Rahane was picked towards the end of the auction, which means he was not in the plans for captaincy. It felt like they were looking for a future captain when they spent ₹23-24 crore for Venkatesh Iyer. But they later went with Rahane because of his captaincy experience,” he added.
Kaif also expressed concerns over veteran Ajinkya Rahane’s spin woes. He shared that the batter needs to add a few more shots to his game instead of relying on the slog sweep only. He also mentioned that Rahane should learn from Virat Kohli, who has improved his game against spinners in recent times as well.
“Virat Kohli was in a similar situation. His strike rate was going down against spinners. He shut everyone’s mouth by attacking the spinners and inventing new shots. Rahane just has the slog sweep against spinners. He needs to work on his power-hitting down the ground. He has to increase his range of shots against spinners, as Virat Kohli has done. Virat Kohli has set a great example for everyone, and Rahane can also learn from it,” he said again.
“Rahane got the team off to good starts in the last season. If you see the entire season, he scored around 30-40 in every match, but he did not have a single Man of the Match award. So, that question mark is still there with Rahane. 30s and 40s are fine, but he gets out as soon as the spinners come in,” Mohammad Kaif concluded.
