The IPL 2025 season isn’t off to a great start for the Kolkata Knight Riders, the defending champions. They lost by seven wickets to Royal Challengers Bengaluru at their home ground, Eden Gardens. Krunal Pandya, the left-arm spinner, was the standout for RCB, taking the most wickets.
After the game, KKR’s captain, Ajinkya Rahane, commented that they were hoping for a pitch that would help spin bowlers, but it had been covered for a day and a half before the match. He also expressed confidence in his spinners, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, who each took one wicket.
Eden’s curator, Sujan Mukherjee, stated that he wouldn’t be making any changes to the pitch and reminded everyone that the franchises don’t get a say in how the pitch is prepared. He pointed out that RCB’s spinners took four wickets, compared to KKR’s struggling ones.
On another note, KKR’s bowling coach, Bharat Arun, is backing Andre Russell to perform well in their next match against the Rajasthan Royals after a disappointing start. Russell didn’t do well in the season opener against RCB, managing just four runs. Arun believes everyone has off days and is optimistic that Russell will bounce back and show his true form in the next game.
