Ajinkya Rahane was relieved after KKR finally got their first win of the season and was in the mood for a few jokes. Rahane was always the first man to be questioned on five occasions from six matches this season as Kolkata were always on the losing side and headed straight back to the dressing room.
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But on Sunday, April 19, he got some extra time on the field, an extra five minutes according to the KKR captain himself. He started the post-match presentation by mentioning this fact.
“First of all I am really happy to be here. I got five extra minutes after the match,” Rahane said.
The KKR captain was quick to deflect his praise towards Rinku Singh, who scored a brilliant 53 to take his team homeand Varun Chakravarthy, who took three wickets for 14 to return to form. A special mention also went to Anukul Roy who held his nerve and allowed Rinku to finish the match.
“Personally, I’m really happy for Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy and Varun Chakaravarthy. The way he played in the middle, he was going through a tough phase but he played well in the last three games.”
“Rinku is going through a tough phase mentally again. I’m really happy to see him finish the game. Anukul Roy, he had a fantastic domestic season. He couldn’t bowl today because of the left-handers. But really happy to see how they batted for us,” Rahane said.
IS THE BETTING RATE FORECASTED?
It was a run chase of 156 runs for Kolkatabut they found themselves in trouble at some of the big moments of the chase. Rahane felt that today’s chase was all about the batting rotation and felt that the number of strikes on the day was overrated.
“We can learn a lot from every game. The batting power play has not been good for us in the last three games. Sometimes I feel like the strike rate is overrated. On this kind of wicket, you have to focus on singles and doubles, it’s not about hitting big sixes. We made those mistakes the last few games. It was a great escape for us.”
“Thankfully now we get the 5 days. We have to reflect and learn from our mistakes. As a team we probably have to pull together, be honest with each other and have clear communication. The atmosphere in the dressing room is great,” Rahane said.
KKR next face LSG on April 26 in Lucknow.
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Published on:
19 Apr 2026 20:45 IST
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