Ajinkya Rahane walked into the press room at Eden Gardens looking more tired than upset. A 65-run defeat, a chase that unravelled inside 16 overs and fresh questions about both his tempo with the bat and the treatment of Varun Chakravarthy – there was quite a bit on the captain’s plate.
First, the basics. Sunrisers Hyderabad’s 226 for 5 had always looked above par, but Kolkata Knight Riders stayed in touch at 74 for 1 after the powerplay. The wheels came off once Cameron Green was run-out and, without a partnership past 50, KKR folded for 161.
“We needed a couple of big partnerships, guys who were set, they needed to take it deep,” the KKR captain said. “In batting, when you are chasing a target you need that partnership. We couldn’t get that. In the second innings, the slower balls were slightly stopping [in the pitch], the slower balls were gripping a lot more than the first innings. We thought the wicket would get better but the ball was stopping.”
Rahane’s own knock – eight off nine balls before a top-edged slower ball from Jaydev Unadkat – became instant fodder for those who feel his strike-rate outside the powerplay is a concern. Statistically, he has a point when he says the early-overs numbers are healthy. Since the start of IPL 2023 only Abhishek Sharma (176.56) scores quicker than Rahane (167.78) among Indian batters in the powerplay. After that phase, though, the pace does dip.
“My strike rate… I have the best strike rate so far, from 2023. People who are talking are probably not watching the game or have a certain agenda against me,” Rahane said. “They don’t like me playing. They don’t like to watch me play. The amount of success I’ve got, I guess they’re jealous about that.”
He smiled while saying it, but the irritation showed. A little later he doubled down.
“I’m not too worried, yaar. My intent was there. Sometimes as a batter you don’t get the rhythm or the flow. People who are talking either don’t understand the game or they want me to play a different kind of innings. They didn’t expect that Ajinkya Rahane would improve his game this much. I am happy they are talking about me – negative or positive. Let them talk. But partnering Finn Allen, it has been very good.”
Green’s run-out, and a second mix-up that did for youngster Angkrish Raghuvanshi, cost KKR momentum they never regained. Rahane admitted as much.
“But, no excuses. We got a good start. In the first six overs, we were 78 [74] but lost that one extra wicket, Greeny’s run-out. Apart from that we were going really well. The middle overs were the crucial time for us and we needed those partnerships from the set batters and that just didn’t happen. SRH executed the slower balls and the angles they used were really good.”
If the batting discussion felt familiar, the bowling debate was new. Chakravarthy, last season’s leading wicket-taker for the franchise, delivered just two overs (0 for 25) before being shelved. With Sunrisers left-handers threatening to tee off, many expected him to return. Rahane disagreed.
“It’s not compulsory to bowl four overs. If he’s struggling, you’ve got to accept that he is struggling,” he said, matter-of-factly. “Varun is a team man. He is going through that phase where he needs that support from each and every one. Sometimes bowling just two overs can help a player. Or one over. Or no overs. We want Varun’s confidence throughout the tournament.”
Coaches Sanjay Bangar and Irfan Pathan, on commentary duty, pointed towards KKR’s lack of a holding pattern in the middle overs, noting that the two overs from Chakravarthy were sandwiched between pace that leaked runs. They stopped short of criticising the captain, merely suggesting the think-tank may revisit roles once the tournament settles.
From KKR’s viewpoint the path back is simple enough on paper: sharper running, fewer soft dismissals, and a steadier hand with the ball when the surface flattens. They have four days before travelling to Bengaluru, and Rahane sounded keen to move on quickly.
“We’ll take the learnings, but you can’t carry the baggage,” he said, packing away his gear even as the ground staff switched off the floodlights. A messy night, yes, yet only the second game of a long season. Whether the outside noise quietens is out of his control – and, judging by his parting shrug, out of his concern.
