Rahane describes the surge of wickets in the middle overs as “the momentum-changer.”

By
Jay Rock
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3

In his debut appearance with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Ajinkya Rahane demonstrated his suitability in the batting order with a 31-ball 56 that turned out to be the highlight of their innings against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the IPL 2025 opener. However, because the innings ended in a loss, he is unable to reflect on it and enjoy it. As KKR travels to Guwahati to play the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Wednesday, the emphasis is instead on recovering swiftly.

“I hope you all enjoyed my innings rather than me enjoying my batting,” Rahane said at the post-match press conference. “For me, it’s all about contributing for the team and that’s what matters to me. Whatever runs I score, it’s always about the contribution. An innings of 56 on the winning side would have been really nice. But it’s fine.”

Rahane claimed that KKR lost their stride because to the rush of wickets in the last overs; they went from a commanding 107 for 1 in the tenth over to a lackluster 174 for 9 after 20. Rahane’s half-century and Sunil Narine’s 44 from a slow-starting innings had set the stage for a score of more than 200, but the middle-order, KKR’s renowned engine room, was unable to capitalize.

KKR managed just 23 runs in the final four overs after the others went rapidly, with the exception of No. 5 Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who scored 30. With 22 balls remaining, RCB easily won, thus it was far from enough.

“It is the first game of the season and the batting line-up which we have, we have guys who like to go after the bowlers,” Rahane, a new member of the team and its captain, said. “As a team, I thought there are a few areas we did well and there’s always areas we can improve.
“I thought RCB bowled really well in the powerplay, but important was how they picked up wickets in the 13th and 14th overs [13th to 16th – they went from 125 for 3 to 150 for 6]. Those were crucial since that was the momentum-changer. I don’t focus on all the negative things because this side has players who have done very well for this franchise in the past. So I’m going to back them. In the game tonight it didn’t work out, but it’s okay.”

Rahane also justified the choice of Quinton de Kock as the wicketkeeper-opener over Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who had one of his worst IPL seasons in 2024 but was chosen in the auction.

“Gurbaz is a fantastic player but you cannot play everyone,” Rahane stated. “That is how we must fit the mix. As a team, we therefore believed that Quinton and Sunil opening together could be hazardous. It doesn’t matter that [not using a left-right opening combination] because you saw Phil Salt and Virat Kohli at the top of the other, both right-handers.”

Rahane stated that support was required for the three young fast bowlers in the KKR XI for Saturday: Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, and Spencer Johnson. Despite their total figures of 8.2-0-105-1 on the night, he believed their prior results compensated for their relative inexperience.

When Rahane stated, “I don’t believe in making too many changes,” “For fast bowlers, life may be difficult, and [Anrich] Nortje has been recovering from an injury. Vaibhav, Spencer, and Harshit have been doing well. Spencer is unique because of his left-arm angle. Therefore, we made sure to have a man who can move at a good rate while maintaining that left-arm angle. Additionally, Vaibhav has been performing incredibly well.

“Harshit is a confident player and I would like to back players who has done well for the franchise. He’s learning from each and every game, each and every season. It’s always about showing that trust and faith in them. All three guys are equally good, and it was just one of those days. I’m sure they will bounce back.”

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