Kolkata Knight Riders look for new leadership after opting against Eoin Morgan

Ajinkya Rahane, Pat Cummins, the new Australia skipper, and West Indies allrounder Andre Russell would also represent legitimate options for the captaincy

Kolkata Knight Riders will have a new captain in 2022 after deciding not to go after Eoin Morgan on day two of the Indian Premier League auction.

KKR had a quiet first two sessions, only spending notable cash on Ajinkya Rahane (1 crore, £97,000), against no opposition.

And by not bidding for Morgan, who took them to the IPL final last year, they confirmed they are moving on.

^{Ajinkya Rahane could be a captaincy option for KKR}

Rahane could be a leadership option for KKR, but Venky Mysore - the chief executive - has been at pains over the weekend to say it is a decision to be taken by "the think tank" at a later date.

Jhanvi Mehta, daughter of KKR owner Juhi Chawla, was quoted locally as saying: "That's something the management will decide and we have a lot of options."

"[Rahane] was an amazing buy for us. He has amazing leadership qualities and can play the anchor role without Shubman Gill. 

"He will allow Venky Iyer to play his role."

^{Pat Cummins also has leadership qualities}

Pat Cummins, the new Australia skipper, and West Indies allrounder Andre Russell would also represent legitimate options for the captaincy.

KKR’s major business on day two was done in the final parts of the accelerated auction, when they picked up Sam Billings, Alex Hales, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Nabi.

On Rinku Singh, the 24-year-old batsman from Uttar Pradesh who returns to KKR, Mehta said: "Rinku was part of KKR academy in 2018 and he's a homegrown boy for us and he's an amazing fielder. He is fun and a quintessential team-man in a way."

Kolkata Knight Riders squad: Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Pat Cummins, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Mavi, Sheldon Jackson, Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Rasikh Dar, Baba Indrajith, Chamika Karunaratne, Abhijeet Tomar, Pratham Singh, Ashok Sharma, Sam Billings, Alex Hales, Tim Southee, Ramesh Kumar, Mohammad Nabi, Umesh Yadav