On 14 April 2024, Kolkata Knight Riders were one of the formal sides in the IPL. Sitting comfortably at the top end of the table with three wins from four games, they were slowly building towards what turned out to be a title challenge.
Fast forward to 2026 and on the same date, KKR remained rooted to the bottom of the IPL table with just one point from five games. Performance in loss against Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk summed up how their season has been so far. While the bowling delivered, the batting again struggled to live up to their big-name firepower and failed to chase down the sub-par target.
Looking at what has happened this season, we can have some sympathy for the three-time IPL champions. They lost Mustafizur Rahman he even started a season ago for reasons beyond their control and then saw Harshit Rana and Akash Deep ruled out for the season with injuries. Matheesha Pathirana, bought for Rs. 18 crores, is yet to play for the team.
Despite all of that, once the season begins, teams are expected to find the right combination with five games to play and dust. Still, KKR are still in a rush to find the right one.
Finn Allen failed to live up to the hype, Cameron Green doesn’t look like Rs. purchase for 25.2 million, and the middle order hasn’t looked scary enough since Andre Russell’s retirement. Rinku Singh’s poor form has only compounded the problem.
The bowling can be forgiven for inexperience, but veterans like Varun Chakravarthy are yet to improve.
So, who do we blame for this debacle? They are owners who have invested close to Rs. 64 million during the mega-auction, or a think tank that failed to inspire players?
The easiest option is to focus on captain Ajinkya Rahane – but is he alone to blame?
ALL THE BLAME ON RAHANE?
The Mumbai batter is one cricketer who has a great reputation. A reliable middle-order batsman in Tests and a successful captain in the red-ball format for India, the IPL is one place where Rahane has remained an enigma.
After a good stint with RR, he has moved around teams since then. He made a resurgence in CSK which prompted KKR to bring him in as their captain choice during the IPL 2025 season after missing out on big names like KL Rahul and former captain Shreyas Iyer.
But KKR knew what they were getting with Rahane as captain. He may have been successful in Tests but the IPL was always a different ball game. Ajinkya Rahane has a win percentage of just 32.55. (Image: Reuters)
His win rate was already below 50 percent and it took another hit after the CSK game. Rahane has captained 43 IPL matches and lost 27 of them with a winning percentage of 32.55.
So they carried that risk over from last season and their title defense ended in eighth place. This season, the Mumbai batsman seems to have been affected by the buzz around him even before the campaign started. Some have called him the weak link, and it seems to have had an impact.
During the press conference after the KKR loss, SRH reacted strongly and claimed that people are jealous of him. Then came the outcry against PBKS where he decided to bat first on a runway that had been under cover for a long time. Calcutta was saved by rain that day.
When it comes to batting, despite his claims of maintaining a higher strike rate, CSK’s game showed that his approach seems outdated.
This was the second chase where Rahane’s lack of intent affected the team. He was dismissed for 8 off 10 balls against SRH and scored 28 off 22 balls against CSK after coming on during the second over.
In five matches, Rahane has hit just seven sixes and surprisingly only eight fours. Another big problem is his position in the team, which creates a block for others.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi was one of the shining lights, scoring 182 runs from five matches. But having both him and Rahane in the XI creates a middle-order block that hurts KKR when they need to step up.
The same goes for Green, who has excelled in the IPL while batting higher up the order. With Rahane at No.3 in Chepauk, Green dropped to No.5 where his weakness against spin was exposed.
REPLACE RAHANE?
If KKR decide to move on from Rahane, they could bring in either Tejasvi Singh or Sarthak Ranjan. Tejasvi is a lower-order hitter known for his six hits in the Premier League for Delhi, while Ranjan has taken up the higher order during the team’s matches, scoring 449 runs in 9 matches in DPL 2025.
However, the biggest factor playing in Rahane’s favor is KKR’s lack of leadership options. Vice-captain Rinku is out of form and is struggling to defend his place. KKR’s Rinku Singh scored just 78 runs in IPL 2026. (Image: Reuters)
Another option is Rovman Powell, who has had a decent role as T20I West Indies captain. But he hasn’t led in the IPL and seems more like a rotation option than a guaranteed starter.
Sunil Narine did well in a short stint as stand-in captain against DC.
All this gives Rahane something of a free pass, at least for now.
WHAT ABOUT THE REST?
KKR’s struggles also extend to the supporting cast. Allen hasn’t batted outside the powerplay this season, while Green has managed just 56 runs in five games.
Rinku scored 78 runs in the same period and has not registered a fifty since 2023.
Vaibhav Arora was expected to lead the bowling unit as a senior figure. While he aspires to be the Bumrah of KKR, he struggles when there is no swing on offer. Even then, some of his plans with certain batters leave a lot to be desired.
Remember the name — Mukul Chaudhary.
He smashed sixes against every KKR fast bowler.
He hit 7 sixes.
17 – Vaibhav Arora: 4, 6
18. — Kartik Tyagi: 6, 1, 6
19 – Cameron Green: 6, 4, 6
20. – Vaibhav Arora: 6, 6,
Uncapped match winner. pic.twitter.com/cZ1wbbBOR8— Sonu (@Cricket_live247) April 9, 2026
In terms of backroom staff, KKR probably have the most high-profile group in the IPL this season. Shane Watson and Dwayne Bravo are serial winners, Russell has been synonymous with Kolkata and Abhishek Nayar’s work with the likes of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul is well documented. Tim Southee is a legend.
But collectively they don’t seem to be driving change. KKR fans criticized Bravo for attending the CSK legends event instead of focusing on the team.
He has been proactive as a mentor for Chennai, often driving from the boundary line, but that element seems to be lacking in KKR.
Meanwhile, Nayar was unable to change the batting approach in the crucial chases, especially during the middle overs. KKR had the lowest number of sixes in over 7 for 15 (35) last season and the trend continues. This reflects an inability to develop their approach.
ANY HOPE FOR KKR?
KKR can still find hope. They were in a similar position in 2021 before reaching the final – but that required bold decisions.
That’s when they promoted young Venkatesh Iyer to open Shubman Gill. Such moves are common in the IPL and KKR need them fast.
Opening with Allen or Seifert next to Green could be one option.
“I think his best place would be to open the batting,” former Australian captain and ESPNcricinfo pundit Aaron Finch told the media during IPL 2026 match week. “Coming in through the middle and being exposed to top quality spin is a really difficult change for a top-order player.”
That would move Rahane to No.3, but his intent would have to change – to focus more on the bowlers and go for the boundary. Rajat Patidar is a good example who has re-emerged with clean attacking strokes.
If that means dropping Green, KKR could use Seifert and Allen at the top, replicating New Zealand’s 2026 T20 World Cup template.
With Pathirana still unavailable, this could create the same imbalance that hurt KKR earlier in the season.
It might also be time to bring back the youth by bringing in Tejasvi Singh and using him as a goalkeeper. If it works, KKR could free up a slot to bring in Pathiran later and strengthen the bowling.
If they decide to take the gutsy call of dropping Rahane, it will remove the middle-order block and allow another Indian batsman to step in – perhaps Ranjan or Manish Pandey.
They might even hand the captain over to Rinko and look for a new direction.
KKR need a change and time is running out. After investing Rs. 64 crores, finishing with a wooden spoon would be the ultimate insult to one of the original IPL franchises.
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– The end
Issued by:
Amar Panicker
Published on:
17 Apr 2026 10:15 AM IST
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