Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Abhishek Nayar said he reckoned the team’s total of 192 for four against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Raipur was par for the course, despite the eventual result.
Riding on Virat Kohli’s first century of the season, RCB never looked in a spot of bother and managed to chase the target down in the final over, despite a slew of late wickets.
“The pitch was good through and through. Anytime there is a bit of rain, you expect the ball to swing and seam. But I still felt we got enough runs on the board, because midway, when we had that discussion, we felt anywhere between 180 and 200 would be a good score,” Nayar said.
The former Mumbai cricketer said it was unfortunate that the team could not hold onto the chances it created against in-form players like Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal, which allowed the game to slip away.
This was KKR’s first loss after a run of four consecutive wins, which helped it maintain a slender chance to qualify for the Playoffs. The head coach said the key to the squad’s improvement was to maintain a secure environment throughout the tournament.
“From the start of the season, one thing we decided was to be consistent in how we approach our processes. Making sure the environment is good is one of the hardest things to do in the IPL with all the noise and pressure. We wanted to curate an environment where the players felt safe; they felt like they could still go out and play regardless of the outcome,” he said.
The Knight Riders were without the services of Varun Chakaravarthy, who missed out on the game with a foot injury. Despite the pitch not directly assisting the tweakers, Nayar said that the team did miss the partnership between Varun and Sunil Narine through the middle.
“It is an open secret that we have done very well with the Sunny [Narine] and Varun combo. He’s got a fracture, which is unfortunate for him. We’ll always miss a Varun Chakaravarthy, and he’s hard to replace,” the coach said.
Published on May 14, 2026