Kolkata Knight Riders were not interested in winning the game against Gujarat Titans in the 18th season of the tournament. Venkatesh Iyer, who was bought for INR 23.75 in the mega auction, played a Test match when the team needed 199 runs. The southpaw didn’t hit a single boundary in his knock of 14 runs off 19 balls. His innings was responsible for the team’s defeat as it put pressure on the other batters. Ajinkya Rahane, the captain of the defending champions, failed to add quick runs, managing 50 runs off 36 balls.
The surprising part was sending the top-order batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi to the No.9 slot. Even Andre Russell was kept in the dugout when there was an urgency to promote him in the batting order. Russell amassed 21 runs off 15 balls while Angkrish posted 27 not out off 13 deliveries.
Pragyan Ojha was surprised by the lack of intent and the batting order of the host franchise. “There was no intent from the players. A lot of mistakes were made in the bowling department. Batting is lacking firepower. Rinku Singh couldn’t handle the pressure and failed to score runs. Angkrish Raghuvanshi came on the scooter as the bust had already left. He should bat in the top order as this is where he can contribute for the team,” he said.
KKR are seventh in the points table with just three wins out of 8 matches. On the other hand, the Gujarat Titans have taken the lead in the standings with 12 points from 8 contests.