Former Team India opener Kris Srikkanth believes Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Ajinkya Rahane is a weak link for the side as a player ahead of their IPL 2026 opener against the Mumbai Indians (MI) on March 29. KKR are coming off a dismal IPL 2025 campaign, finishing eighth on the points table with five wins in 14 matches.

It was Rahane’s first season as KKR captain, a year after Shreyas Iyer led them to a memorable title run. Despite his struggles outside the powerplay, Rahane did provide KKR with excellent starts with the bat.

The right-hander scored 390 runs in IPL 2025 at an average of over 35 and a strike rate of 147.72 in 13 matches.

Talking about Rahane’s role in KKR on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth said (21:32):

“Ajinkya Rahane is going to be a huge problem for them. Coming and opening, he is going to block that slot. He is playing because he’s the captain. If you think about it, he can neither smash the bowling nor anchor the innings like Virat Kohli. He surprised us in 2023, but even before that, he didn’t do well for a long time. That’s the missing link for KKR.”

KKR is Rahane’s sixth team in his lengthy IPL career, where he has amassed over 5,000 runs at an average of over 30 and a strike rate of 125 in 198 games.

“What is the value he is going to add as a player?” – Kris Srikkanth on Ajinkya Rahane

Kris Srikkanth questioned Ajinkya Rahane’s value as a player within the KKR setup ahead of their IPL 2026 opener against MI. The veteran batter has not crossed 400 runs in an individual IPL season since 2016.

“He is playing and possibly opening only because he has to compulsorily play as the captain. Even last year, he didn’t do very well for KKR. He is playing as a captain but what is the value he is going to add as a player? He did brilliantly for CSK in 2023 and won them the title. But the last two years, he has not done anything great. That’s where KKR are stuck,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).

KKR made the highest buy in the 2026 auction with the acquisition of Australian all-rounder Cameron Green for ₹25.20 crore.