Kolkata, March 23 After defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders suffered a seven-wicket defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the opening game of IPL 2025 at the Eden Gardens, captain Rahane is confident that the "experienced, dangerous and explosive" batting unit will bounce back from the loss.
Skipper Ajinkya Rahane led from the front with a scintillating 56 runs in 31 balls to get his side off to a blistering start, before Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma ran through KKR’s famed middle order, ensuring that they could only make 174/8, despite a score of 230 plus being a possibility.
"The guys who are batting in the middle order are experienced, dangerous and explosive players. They have handled many situations like this in the past. It’s always about giving them the freedom and allowing them to go out there to play their game," Rahane said while addressing the media during the post-match press conference.
“When that works out, it looks good. It didn’t work out today and that’s okay, it’s going to happen. It’s a long tournament; we’re going to back every individual”, he added.
Reflecting on his performance with the bat, the experienced campaigner shared, “For me, it’s all about contributing to the team. Whatever runs I score, it’s always for the team, and that’s what matters to me. I would prefer scoring those runs and ending up on the winning side.”
Rahane also shed some light on the opening combination for KKR and stated, “We have batters who like to go after the bowlers. Quinton de Kock has been a dangerous player in this format. He has scored runs at the top of the order. Sunil (Narine), we all know he had a brilliant season, and he’s been doing really well. As a team, we believe that de Kock and Narine can be a dangerous opening pair.”
Kolkata Knight Riders will look to bounce back when they take on Rajasthan Royals at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday.
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