New Delhi: Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane warms up before an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 T20 cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, in New Delhi. (PTI Photo/Atul Yadav) *** Local Caption ***
Former India opener Virender Sehwag has blasted Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Ajinkya Rahane for putting himself ahead of team. KKR bowed out of the tournament with a 110-run loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Sunday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. “It is not written anywhere that a captain has to bat in the top three,” Sehwag told Cricbuzz.“Look at Pant, he was sending players ahead of him, because they were in form and LSG took advantage of that,” he said. “KKR could have done the same. This was the team management and the coaching staff’s responsibility. See, even CSK did it against GT. Shivam Dube and Dewald Brevis came up the order, they changed that up from the recent matches,” Sehwag said.
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With 390 runs in 13 matches, Ajinkya Rahane was the leading run-getter for KKR.In the post-match press conference on Sunday, Rahane had defended his decision not to open for KKR. Rahane was the highest run-scorer in the Syed Mushtaq Ali, playing for Mumbai, he amassed 469 runs in eight innings with a breezy strike rate of 164.“Yes, I’d love to open. I’ve done well in Mushtaq Ali and other formats as an opener. But it’s about what the team needs,” he said.Who’s that IPL player?With Quinton de Kock fixed as an opener and last season’s success behind Sunil Narine’s explosive starts, Rahane said he and Angkrish Raghuvanshi adapted to middle-order roles. “We didn’t want to change too much from a winning combination. We thought 3 and 4 was ideal for us.”Rahane also admitted that while the bowling unit did a commendable job in the IPL 2025, it was the batting that fell short.“This season has been kind of up and down for us. We had our chances, but as a unit, we didn’t play really well,” Rahane said.“If you win close matches, those are the differences. And the Punjab Kings game, LSG game, and also the CSK game, I thought those 2-3 games could have been slightly different.“What I saw as a captain was that everyone tried their best. It’s never easy to come into a season as defending champions — expectations are high. But I can say we gave our best and we’ll definitely come back stronger next year,” he added.
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