Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Ajinkya Rahane criticised his openers for their underperformance against Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 game, played at the iconic Eden Gardens on April 21. Going into the contest against 2022 IPL champions, KKR dropped out-of-form Quinton de Kock from their playing XI and handed the opportunity to Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz to keep wickets and be the opening ally of Sunil Narine. However, the Afghan stalwart also couldn’t provide anything solid from his bat and departed after scoring only one run. Following him, Narine also went back to the dugout with his lethargic innings of 17 off 13.
The disheartening shows from both openers created pressure on successive batters, which resulted in KKR losing the game by 39 runs. After the match, Rahane spoke with broadcasters and said that the target of 199 was achievable but another frail opening start impacted his side negatively.
“I thought 199 was chasable, we came back into the game really well with the ball. When you are chasing 199, you expect a good opening start with the batters, that's where we are struggling throughout this tournament. I thought 199 was chasable on this wicket, we bowled really well, we faltered with our batting,” said Rahane after his team’s hammering against GT.
Sunil Narine delivers a disappointing all-round show against GT
Sunil Narine, who has looked decent with the ball in this tournament, couldn’t do much for his side against GT in all departments of the game. With the ball, he splurged 36 runs and went wicketless in his four overs while as a batter, he could chip in with only 17 after consuming 13 deliveries.
Narine’s bat has remained silent in this competition, thus far. The southpaw has scored only 147 runs in seven matches at a miserable average of 21.00. Defending champions KKR, who have lost five matches after their eight outings, will have to play quality cricket in their upcoming clashes. Two more defeats might eliminate Kolkata from the tournament. Currently, Rahane and his men are in the seventh spot on the points tally with just three wins. Gujarat, on the other hand, are leading the table with six victories and a couple of losses.
Get real-time IPL scores, Orange Cap, Purple Cap, points table, expert match predictions, and expert fantasy tips exclusively on SportsTiger!
