Rahane Comment to Iyer After KKR Loss- In the Indian Premier League (IPL), a single year has a significant impact. In 2024, Punjab Kings were the team that chased the highest target in IPL history. This year, they, interestingly, defended the league’s lowest total against the same team, the Kolkata Knight Riders. Despite heroic efforts from Andre Russell and Angkrish Raghuvanshi, the Knight Riders, headed by Ajinkya Rahane, failed to attain the objective of 112 runs. Ultimately, Yuzvendra Chahal’s four-wicket haul helped the Shreyas Iyer-led Punjab team win.
A historic low-scoring thriller, the game currently stands as the IPL’s lowest successful defence, surpassing the previous record of 116 runs held by CSK versus PBKS in 2009. Along with Chahal, Marco Jansen and Arshdeep Singh were key members of Punjab’s unrelenting bowling attack.
Both sets of batsmen found it difficult to score runs on a spicy surface that gave bowlers inconsistent bounce, resulting in a low-scoring thriller that will go down in history. Rahane and Shreyas shook hands after the game, with Rahane acknowledging that his team’s batting lineup that day was appalling.
“Kya faltu batting kari humne (What a disastrous batting effort from us),” Rahane seemingly told Iyer as the two shook hands after the game.
Fans and past cricket players have responded to Rahane’s candour and the sharp disparity in KKR’s performance by sharing the video of this unguarded moment on social media. Others criticised his tactical choices, especially the exclusion of in-form finisher Rinku Singh from the top order, while others praised his responsibility.
Many people saw Rahane’s expulsion to be the match’s pivotal moment. While attempting to sweep Yuzvendra Chahal, the KKR captain was awarded LBW. It was eventually determined that the impact was outside off, even though the on-field umpire raised his finger as the ball struck Rahane’s rear leg. Rahane would have received a not-out if he had reviewed the call.
“As a batter, I believed I could put the review off. Rahane stated during the press conference following the game, “It shouldn’t happen that I take a review and lose it, then we are left with only one review.” “He and Raghuvanshi, the two batters, didn’t communicate very well with one another. As a batter, you take a review if someone expressly states that the impact might miss or be out.
“But usually, you consider what the batters in front of you have to say. ‘Maybe it may be hitting, maybe it could be the umpire’s call,’ was the unclear information. I didn’t take a review because of this. Again, though, no grievances. In addition, we performed poorly as a batting team. And we lost today because of it.
The comeback victory was praised by PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting, who described it as “one of the best bowling performances I’ve seen in a pressure game.” Additionally, he disclosed that the squad conducted a quick but intense planning session the previous evening, which was very successful in managing the middle overs and powerplay.
The defeat lowered KKR’s standing in the standings and cast doubt on their middle-order reliability. “You can’t win matches in the IPL playing old-school cricket,” said former India player Irfan Pathan, who also criticised the batting strategy on TV. They had no intention from the start.
Former cricketers and analysts also discussed KKR’s batting woes in more detail, citing the lack of intent and the absence of key players who could have accelerated the innings. In particular, the exclusion of Rinku Singh, who had been in fine form throughout the season, raised questions about Rahane’s decision-making. Many fans pointed out that the batting order lacked aggressive firepower, which would have been crucial in chasing down such a low total.
