Murali Kartik backs Ajinkya Rahane as best IPL 2026 captain

Kolkata Knight Riders' skipper Ajinkya Rahane (ANI Photo)

Former India cricketer and commentator Murali Kartik has backed Ajinkya Rahane as the best captain of IPL 2026, praising the Kolkata Knight Riders skipper for guiding a depleted squad through a difficult campaign and keeping them in playoff contention until the final day of the league stage. KKR eventually finished seventh on the points table and missed out on a playoff spot after Rajasthan Royals' victory over Mumbai Indians ended their hopes. However, Kartik believes Rahane's leadership deserves recognition given the challenges he faced throughout the season.

Speaking on Cricbuzz, Kartik pointed to the circumstances surrounding KKR's campaign, including injuries, player unavailability and the criticism directed at Rahane during the early part of the tournament. "One of the reasons is that half of his troop was gone before he flicked the first coin," Kartik said. "The second thing is the kind of darts being thrown at him from the beginning of the season, which was not his fault. There were many players who were not performing."

"To lift them up from there and nearly take them to qualification with that kind of a run, with that kind of a side, I'll give it to him."

"Others have settled people around them. They know what they are doing. But for an individual, everybody was throwing darts at him."

"To come back from that and lift the side up, that's why I'll go with Rahane."

Rahane's second season as KKR captain began under difficult circumstances. The franchise was hit by multiple setbacks even before finding momentum in the tournament. Fast bowler Harshit Rana missed the entire season following knee surgery, while Akash Deep was ruled out of the tournament with a lumbar stress injury. Matheesha Pathirana also suffered a hamstring injury and was unavailable for the majority of the season. He returned to play one match but was injured again after bowling just one over. KKR were further affected when Mustafizur Rahman became unavailable before the tournament after the BCCI instructed the franchise to release him.

The results reflected those struggles early on. KKR failed to win any of their first six matches, collecting just a single point from a rain-affected game against Punjab Kings. At that stage, their playoff hopes appeared all but over. However, the team produced one of the strongest recoveries of the season. KKR won six of their final eight league matches to force their way back into contention and remained alive in the playoff race until the final day of the league stage.

Rahane himself was under intense scrutiny during that period. While he began the season strongly with a brisk 67 off 40 balls, his batting returns slowed considerably as the tournament progressed. He eventually finished IPL 2026 with 335 runs from 14 matches at an average of 25.76 and a strike rate of 135.08. Despite those modest numbers with the bat, Kartik believes Rahane's biggest contribution came as a leader. Managing an injury-hit squad, handling external criticism and overseeing a remarkable turnaround after a disastrous start were among the factors that convinced the former India spinner to name the KKR skipper as his captain of the season.