Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Abhishek Nayar pointed to two defining moments in his team’s defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Wednesday: Virat Kohli’s dropped catch and Varun Chakravarthy’s absence.
Nayar admitted that KKR paid dearly for giving Kohli an early lifeline during RCB’s chase of 193, with the former India skipper making them suffer with an unbeaten 105 off 60 balls to seal a six-wicket victory.
“When you drop Virat Kohli, especially in the chase, it’s very difficult,” Nayar said after the match.
However, Nayar did not attribute the defeat to this missed chance alone and said several small moments combined the match in RCB’s favour.
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“As I said earlier, the score was fine on this pitch. There are a lot of things that could have been better. Virat’s catch was very difficult. Angkrish’s catch, you would have expected him to take it.”
Varun’s absence has hurt KKR’s bowling plans
The KKR coach also highlighted the absence of Varun Chakravarthy, who missed the match due to a toe injury, as a significant setback for the side.
“At the end of the day, that’s how cricket works. If we had 10-15 more runs, maybe the game will change. If those catches are taken, maybe the game will change. If Varun Chakravarthy plays, maybe the game will change.”
Nayar acknowledged how heavily KKR rely on the spin partnership of Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine.
“It’s an open secret that we’ve been doing really well with the Sunny-Varun combo. It’s a shame we missed him a lot this season.”
“This is it he has a fracture for the second timewhich is unfortunate for him. You will always miss Varun Chakravarthy.”
Despite the defeat, Nayar maintained that KKR’s total of 192/4 was competitive and credited youngster Angkrish Raghuvanshi for helping the side recover from early struggles.
“Halfway through the innings we felt that anywhere between 180 and 200 would be a good score. There wasn’t even a dew so it wasn’t a factor.”
Nayar was particularly impressed with Raghuvanshi’s composure against a high-quality RCB attack, with the youngster’s unbeaten 71 proving one of the few positives for KKR from an otherwise frustrating night.
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Issued by:
Amar Panicker
Published on:
May 14, 2026 11:49 AM IST
