IPL 2026: Kolkata Knight Riders Appoint Rinku Singh as Vice-Captain

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who have clinched the IPL title three times, have named Rinku Singh as their new vice-captain for the upcoming Indian Premier League 2026. This exciting news was shared by KKR's CEO and managing director, Venky Mysore, during a pre-season event on Tuesday, March 24. 

Rinku takes over the vice-captaincy from Venkatesh Iyer, who was let go by the team before the auction. Although Rinku hasn't yet captained a T20 team, he has been a reliable player for KKR since his IPL debut in 2018.

Renowned for his ability to finish games in the middle order, Rinku is set to take on more responsibility, especially with Andre Russell retiring and stepping into the role of KKR’s power coach. 

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Having played 59 matches for KKR, Rinku has amassed 1,099 runs at an impressive strike rate of 145.17. He was also part of the Indian squad that won the T20 World Cup on home soil, solidifying his status as a vital member of the team.  KKR's head coach, Abhishek Nayar, has praised Rinku's development within the franchise.

"I think it's quite befitting because my first memory of coming to KKR and being part of the support staff was working with Rinku Singh. Over the years, we've seen Rinku Singh evolve not only as a cricketer but also as a leader. For the past couple of years, while his performances have spoken for themselves, I think off the field without saying a lot, he is someone that the team looks forward to [hearing]," Nayar said during the event.

Kolkata is all set to kick off their IPL 2026 journey with an exciting match against the Mumbai Indians (MI) on March 29 at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Under the guidance of Rahane, the Knights are determined to snag the title this season. Recently, KKR's head coach Abhishek Nayar extended a warm welcome to their new assistant coach, Shane Watson.

KKR Squad for IPL 2026

Ajinkya Rahane (C), Manish Pandey, Sunil Narine, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert (WK), Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Sarthak Ranjan, Finn Allen (WK), Rachin Ravindra, Cameron Green, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kartik Tyagi, Blessing Muzarabani, Akash Deep, Prashant Solanki, Matheesha Pathirana, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Harshit Rana, Tejasvi Singh (WK), Daksh Kamra.