Venkatesh Iyer has never captained in professional cricket but feels "definitely ready" should the Kolkata Knight Riders need him in the Indian Premier League.

KKR open their upcoming IPL campaign on March 22, playing against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the tournament opener.

Former India captain Ajinkya Rahane is reportedly among the frontrunners to lead the side.

But Iyer, who was brought back to Kolkata in the last auction, fancies his chances at taking charge.

"Definitely. Definitely, I'm ready," he told ESPNcricinfo. "Again, I've always said this: captaincy is just a tag. I believe in leadership. That is a bigger role to play, being a leader.

"You don't necessarily need the tag of a captain to be a leader in your dressing room. You need to set examples. You need to be a good role model, both on and off the field, which I am doing right now.

"I'm not the captain of the Madhya Pradesh team, but my opinions are respected and I really love to be in an atmosphere where every individual – again, new or experienced, whatever – you just need to have the freedom to voice your opinion.

"Or you just need to have the freedom to give opinions and give suggestions and them to be taken in the right spirit.

"I've always wanted to be that person. And if captaincy comes my way, I would definitely want to do it. There's no ambiguity surrounding this. I'll definitely do it, if it comes my way. There is no reason not to do it."

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— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) February 16, 2025

Iyer, who scored an unbeaten half-century in the IPL final against Sunrisers Hyderabad as KKR won last season's title, has managed 1,326 runs in the competition, at a strike rate of 137 and an average of 31.57.

KKR are yet to announce their captain but that could be down to India's domestic schedule, in which Iyer's Madhya Pradesh just lost another T20 final in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy to Mumbai.

"It's good that they're giving players their space and letting them focus on domestic cricket," he added.

"Whenever it comes, we'll see about it."