Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Ajinkya Rahane believes the blame for their defeat lies with the batting lineup rather than crediting Punjab Kings’ (PBKS) bowling. Speaking after their IPL 2025 loss in Mullanpur on Tuesday, Rahane took full responsibility as skipper, admitting he should have stayed at the crease to guide the team through the chase.
Chasing just 112, the defending champions found themselves in a strong position at 62/2, but suffered a dramatic collapse after Rahane’s dismissal, eventually getting bowled out for just 95 in 15.1 overs—handing PBKS a historic win.
Addressing the media post-match, the 36-year-old noted that the entire batting group would be reflecting on their performances and reassessing their strategies going into the next game. He said (as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo):
“It’s not like Punjab bowled very well. I think we played bad cricket as a batting unit. I take this responsibility as a captain that we couldn’t chase this down. But individually, I’m sure, all the players, especially the batters, will think about their own game and improve in the upcoming matches.”
“As a batter, you go for a review if you’re told the impact could go either way”- Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane spoke about his choice not to opt for a review after his dismissal, admitting it was a tough call with only one review left for the remaining batters. Still, he downplayed that moment and put the loss down to an overall batting collapse.
“As a batter, I thought that I could save the review for later. It shouldn’t happen that I take a review and lose it, then we are only left with one review. The communication between the two batsmen wasn’t that clear.”
”If someone clearly tells you that the impact can be out or it can miss, you take a review as a batter. But generally, the batsmen in front of you, you think about what they say.”
“The communication wasn’t that clear. Maybe it could be the umpire’s call, maybe it could be hitting. That’s why I didn’t take a review. But again, no complaints. Apart from that, also were pretty bad as a batting unit. And that was the reason we lost today.”
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