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Andre Russell was almost on his knees, completely crestfallen. Around him, Punjab Kings players celebrated wildly. Shreyas Iyer, the PBKS captain, had a point to prove. He was dismissed for a two-ball duck. Shreyas, the title-winning Kolkata Knight Riders skipper in 2024 whom the franchise didn’t retain, lost the battle. But he won the war at Mullanpur on Tuesday.
Russell has been a pale shadow of his former self this season. But KKR’s failure to chase down 111 was not on him. He briefly raised hopes for his team, hitting a couple of sixes and a four against the excellent Yuzvendra Chahal. But he was the last man standing and had to take his chances. Marco Jansen got the better of him.
The damage, actually, was done long ago, when during a period of the game, KKR had lost five wickets for seven runs. It was one big bottle job, helping PBKS nail the lowest successful defence in the IPL history.
It all started with Ajinkya Rahane’s dismissal. The KKR captain fell prey to his misjudgment, as he didn’t go for a review. Ball-tracking showed the impact was outside off stump and as Rahane would say at the post-match press conference, it was down to a lack of proper communication from his batting partner.
“The communication between the two batsmen wasn’t that clear,” Rahane told reporters. “If someone clearly tells you that the impact can be out or it can miss, you take a review as a batter. But generally, the batsmen in front of you, you think about what they say. The communication wasn’t that clear. Maybe it was an unbiased call. That’s why I didn’t take a review. But again, no complaints.”
Angkrish Raghuvanshi, with whom Rahane had stitched a 55-run third wicket partnership, was at the other end. But no point targeting him, for he is still a spring chicken at this level and hasn’t reached the stage yet to drive home his point to his captain.
Raghuvanshi, though, would be disappointed with the shot he played – an attempted inside-out lofted drive through covers, backing away towards leg – against Chahal. He was the set batsman out there, on a pitch that had a bit for the bowlers.
Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh, too, didn’t cover themselves in glory with the shots they played. Ramandeep Singh’s predetermined paddle sweep was preempted by Shreyas. It was naive from the batsman and brilliant from the PBKS skipper.
At the presser, Rahane confirmed that there was no instruction from the team management to play for the net run rate. Bagging two points was the priority. Why his teammates defenestrated common sense was anyone’s guess.
“It was not a flat wicket,” said Rahane. “It had something for the bowlers. We had to grind it out. Even though sometimes you will have to play a maiden over in T20s, that’s okay. Play at a strike rate of 70 or 80. That’s fine. But I think just grind it out. It’s all about rotating the strike as a batting unit.”
He added: “T20, personally, I believe it’s not only about hitting sixes. Though we are seeing at this moment, most of the players are going for big shots. They want to look good on the field while batting. It’s not about that. It’s all about reading the situation well. Having that game awareness as a batter, as an individual. And then take the game forward.”
The defeat to PBKS was demoralising. But it’s only the halfway stage of the tournament. Between the lines, Rahane has sent a clear message to his batsmen. His teammates would do well to take it on board and move ahead.
P. S. The KKR captain wasn’t passing the buck. He fronted up and took the blame for the loss.
The post No harm in playing a maiden over in T20s: Ajinkya Rahane appeared first on Sports News Portal | Latest Sports Articles | Revsports.
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[[{“value”:”Andre Russell was almost on his knees, completely crestfallen. Around him, Punjab Kings players celebrated wildly. Shreyas Iyer, the PBKS captain, had a point to prove. He was dismissed for…
The post No harm in playing a maiden over in T20s: Ajinkya Rahane appeared first on Sports News Portal | Latest Sports Articles | Revsports.”}]]
