The comeback win over the Rajasthan Royals has breathed some life back into the Kolkata Knight Riders’ campaign after a winless start to IPL 2026.
A spirited bowling performance, led by spinners Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine, followed by a crucial seventh-wicket partnership between Rinku Singh and Anukul Roy, helped the side jump off bottom place in the standings temporarily.
Victory at the Eden Gardens was only a small relief from the disappointing beginning to the season endured by the three-time champion. Injuries have played a major part in handicapping the side’s bowling arsenal, with India internationals Harshit Rana and Akash Deep ruled out with injury ahead of the tournament. Big money signing Matheesha Pathirana has just joined the team after recovering from an injury during the T20 World Cup.
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar attributed KKR’s poor start to their auction strategy and their decision to hand the leadership to Ajinkya Rahane.
“KKR let go of Shreyas Iyer for whatever reason after a successful season and then picked a guy who didn’t get picked in the first round of bidding and made him captain. Captaincy in T20 cricket is huge and has a massive impact on the results,” Manjrekar said on Sportstar’s Insight Edge podcast.
“Ajinkya Rahane, the player, has also diminished. He’s lost his place on the Indian team. He’s not a natural T20 player. CSK got the best out of Rahane in the first six overs, but he was struggling post-six overs when the field spread out. He’s just not firing at the top of the order and can’t bat down as well. But he might as well bat down to accommodate the destructive T20 batters [Finn Allen and Tim Seifert],” he reasoned.
Manjrekar also explained that the KKR leadership has not utilised Australian all-rounder Cameron Green properly so far in the tournament, after bagging him for a whopping INR 25.20 crore.
“I just feel tall bowlers who hit the deck [like Green] are always going to be a risky option in India. I would use Green the batter a lot more. He’s also gone up and down the order a lot, so if you want to back a certain player, then you’ve got to stick with that player at a certain position,” he opined.
Published on Apr 23, 2026