The Kolkata Knight Riders slipped to seventh in the IPL 2025 points table with six points from three wins and five losses after they suffered a crushing defeat at Eden Gardens, their third of the season at home.
As has been the case this season none of the batters except KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane showed promise with the home team managing only 159/8 chasing 199. Rahane fought a lone battle scoring his third half century of the season with cameos from Andre Russell and Angkrish Raghuvanshi not enough to take KKR past the finish line.
“I thought 199 was chasable, I thought we came back into the game really well with the ball,” Rahane said in the post-match presentation ceremony. “When you are chasing 199, you expect a good opening start with the batters, that’s what we are struggling throughout this tournament. We bowled really well, we faltered with the batting, but we need to learn as quickly as possible and then keep going.”
The KKR openers are yet to put on a 50-run partnership in this year’s IPL with their middle order retainees Rinku Singh and Ramandeep Singh also struggling for runs, along with Venkatesh Iyer, the team’s costliest buy during the IPL 2025 auctions. This has certainly not helped Andre Russell’s cause who has carved his reputation as a fearsome finisher in the past editions of the IPL.
“We as a team didn’t bat properly. That’s just the reality. Russell isn’t the only one struggling right now,” KKR mentor Dwayne Bravo highlighted. “When Russell walks in to bat every time, the run rate is at 14-15. The work needs to be done at the top so that he has a chance to finish the game like he’s accustomed to at KKR.”
“We know these conditions really well, we need to bat properly, we need to bat well in the middle overs, that’s what we are struggling as a batting unit,” Bravo continued.
“But again, our batters are low on confidence. Normally, runs bring confidence, form brings confidence and now it’s time to be honest. The batters don’t have confidence at the moment, but the guys are preparing and practising. They are not sitting back and missing practice. We cannot fault their effort, it’s just not working out at the moment.”
Kolkata next take on the Punjab Kings on April 26 at home, with hopes of avenging a surprising loss earlier in the season where they failed to chase down 111.
