Kolkata Knight Riders had a rough IPL season, finishing in eighth place. Captain Ajinkya Rahane said that their struggles mainly came from poor batting performances from key players like Rinku Singh and Andre Russell. Their bowling was decent, but the lack of form from a few batsmen really hurt the team’s chances. This followed a tough 110-run loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
In our team, three or four guys were just not in form. We really fell short with the bat. As a group, we didn’t perform well, Rahane mentioned after the match. He pointed out that a couple of players were going through a tough time, which affected the team’s overall performance. Still, he believes they’re experienced enough to bounce back. Rinku, Ramandeep, and others will learn from their mistakes and come back stronger next season, he added.
This year’s struggles hit hard, especially for key players from their championship-winning team last year, like Venkatesh Iyer, who also didn’t meet expectations. Sunrisers Hyderabad scored a whopping 278 runs, the third highest in IPL history, while KKR was bowled out for 168.
KKR’s season faced challenges from earlier losses, including a surprising defeat against Punjab Kings while chasing a low target and a narrow loss to Lucknow Super Giants. Two rain-affected games also complicated their season, leading to a 5-9 win-loss record.
This season has been a bit of a rollercoaster for us. We had our chances, but we didn’t play our best as a team, Rahane commented. He noted that some games could have gone differently, like the ones against Punjab and LSG. Defending a championship is tough, and despite their best efforts, they didn’t manage as hoped.
Rahane mentioned that pressure from expectations might have weighed on the players. When you have a couple of good seasons, you tend to put a lot of pressure on yourself. That was probably true for many of our batsmen, he said. But he believes the players will learn valuable lessons from this season.
On another note, KKR’s decision to retain Venkatesh Iyer for a hefty sum was a big deal. Rahane dismissed any claims that the money affected his performance. A player’s effort doesn’t really depend on their salary, he said. I think his attitude was great. Every player goes through slumps. It’s just one of those seasons we had to deal with.
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