3 days Ago
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Ajinkya Rahane asked his team to not panic in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 opener against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) last weekend. KKR are set to face Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their coming fixture in Guwahati on Wednesday. Rahane had helped KKR to score at a rate of over 10 runs per over till the halfway mark of their innings against RCB, but an implosion in the middle order stunted their progress, restricting them to a sub-par 174/8 eventually.
“This is our first game of the season and the batting line-up or the team which we have, we have guys who like to go after the ball. I don't want to pinpoint on certain things. As a team, I thought, in a few areas we did really well.
There're always areas we can improve as a team, as an individual,” Rahane said at the post-match media interaction. Backing his middle-order batters despite their struggles, Rahane said, “Because guys who got out in the middle overs, they actually did well for us, for this franchise in the past. So, I'm going to back them.
They tried to play their game tonight. It didn't work out, but it's okay.” Calling their middle-order “experienced, dangerous, and explosive,” Rahane said: “They have handled many situations like this.
It's always about giving them that freedom and allowing them to go out there and play their game. "If that works out, it looks really good. If that didn't work out today, it's okay.
It's going to happen. This is a long tournament. As a team, we back each and every individual and that is the goal.
”.
