Ajinkya Rahane was quite upset with the second defeat in the second match of IPL 2026 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at Eden Gardens. But, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain lashed out at the critics of his batting style and the discussion surrounding his strike-rate. When Rahane appeared at the press conference after the loss against SRH on Thursday, he was questioned about this and expressed his displeasure.
Referring to his performance, Rahane said, “I’ve one of the best strike rates since 2011. The people who’re talking about me, probably (they’re) not watching the matches, or they’ve certain other targets, they don’t like me playing. The amount of success I got, I guess they’re jealous of me. I’m happy they’re talking about me, negative or positive.”
Back-to-back defeats for KKR
In the first match of IPL 2026, Kolkata suffered a defeat at the hands of the five-time champions Mumbai Indians. Then, in the next match, Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated them by a huge margin of 65 runs. Rahane attributed his team’s defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to a lack of crucial partnerships in the middle overs.
After the match, Rahane said, “It looked like they would get 250-260. I thought the bowlers came back really well, bowled smartly. I don’t think there was any issue with the pitch. First six overs were crucial for us. We lost the extra wicket of Cameron Green. When you’re chasing the target, it’s bound to happen. What we needed today was partnerships. That didn’t happen. SRH executed their plans really well.”
This is only the second time in KKR’s history that they have had such a bad start to the season, where they have lost both their first matches. Rahane said that injuries to key pacers had a negative effect on his side. He added,”It’s still early days, what’s important for us is to have that belief in each and every individual.” Rahane is the ninth-highest run-scorer in the tournament’s history. He has scored 5,107 runs in 185 innings at an average of 30.58 and a strike rate of 125.32, including two centuries and 34 half-centuries.
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