Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif said Kolkata Knight Riders should groom Rinku Singh as the future captain. Ajinkya Rahane, 37, will lead KKR in the upcoming season of the IPL. 

Rinku Singh scored 474 runs in 14 matches of IPL 2023 but he has managed only 374 runs in the last 22 innings of the previous two seasons.

Meanwhile, the southpaw could not deliver the goods in the recently concluded T20 World Cup, scoring only 24 runs in five innings for India. The Uttar Pradesh batter led Meerut Mavericks to the final of the UP T20 league 2025. Singh also leads Uttar Pradesh in the domestic circuit.

Kaif said on his YouTube Channel, “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.”

The former UP batter said KKR must add Rinku Singh to their leadership group for IPL 2026.

“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.”

The Natwest Trophy final hero said KKR initially wanted to appoint Venkatesh Iyer as their new leader after the IPL 2025 mega auction, but decided to back Ajinkya Rahane because of his experience.

“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.”

Kolkata Knight Riders will begin their IPL 2026 campaign against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on 29th March.