Ajinkya Rahane vows KKR will come back stronger after poor IPL 2025 campaign

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane said the franchise will bounce back stronger after a rollercoaster IPL 2025 campaign. The defending champions ended in eighth place in the league phase with five wins, seven losses, and two no results.

Rahane’s team suffered an ignominious loss of 110 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Sunday. The Mumbai batter admitted they failed to get over the line in close matches and admitted it could have been a different story if they had capitalized on situations when they were in front.

“See, this season, I think for us, was kind of up and down. We had our moments, we had our chances and I said that earlier also during those matches, as a unit, we didn’t play well, really well,” said Rahane at the post-match press conference.

“But again, this format, that’s how it goes, you know. If you win close matches, those are the difference. And Kings XI Punjab game, LSG game and also the CSK game, I thought those 2-3 games could have been slightly different.

“But I thought, as a captain, what I saw, what I felt, that preparation wise, everyone tried their best, really best. It’s not easy when you win a championship and come into the next season, defending the championship.

“As a team, we tried our best. What I can say is, we’ll come back really stronger next year.”

Rahane feels the bowlers did well for the team and it was not easy for the duo of Harshit Rana and Varun Chakravarthy to keep performing consistently after a good run in the Champions Trophy. The KKR captain feels they were not at their best with the bat.

“See, it was kind of a mixed thing for our bowlers,” Rahane said. “If you see Harshit, he has been doing really well. He has done well for the team, franchise. Went to the Indian team, did well there as well. Sometimes it’s really challenging for a player who’s playing at the highest level, high intensity games to come immediately after and do well. It’s not an excuse, but again, as a player, that was a challenge for us.

“Varun again did well in the Champions Trophy, you know, high intensity tournament. Sometimes that takes toll on your body and mind as well. Bowlers, I thought they did really well.

“The wickets were really good for the batters. That’s why you mentioned about 200-plus scores on those wickets. But I thought, throughout the season as a bowling unit, we did really well.

“Where we faltered slightly was at the batting end. As a batting unit, collectively, we couldn’t do well. I thought bowlers did well throughout the season”.