Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo.
The famous slogan of Kolkata Knight Riders has a simple yet powerful meaning in Bengali – We will do, we will fight, we will win. It reflects the identity of a franchise built on resilience, fight and the belief in always finding a way.
But this season, those words have felt far from reality. in six matches IPL 2026, KKR have shown glimpses of fight, moments where they looked ready to turn things around, but the last part of that slogan – winning – has completely deserted them. Five losses, one match abandoned, and just one point on the table. It has been a dramatic decline for the three-time champions.
GT vs KKR, IPL 2026: highlighted | Achievement:
From the auction table to the decisions taken on the field this season, many will be pointing fingers at the team management and captain Ajinkya Rahane.
But ultimately, KKR’s biggest problem has been much simpler than strategy or combination – they have failed to execute the fundamentals of the game.
defeat to gujarat titans It was another cruel reminder of that and showed how far the mighty 2024 champions have fallen.
And perhaps no phase summed up their season better than the final six overs in Ahmedabad, where Cameron Green fought like a lone warrior, only to be left stranded as KKR were completely defeated.
Green steps forward finally
Green entered the fight against GT with almost the weight of the entire world on his shoulders.
Fifty-six runs and just one wicket in five matches, is not what you expect from your Rs 25.2 crore contract. When you spend so much, you want to be Superman – the guy who stops the train before it derails.
To his credit, Green did exactly that with the bat.
KKR once again failed in the power play and could score only 37 runs in six overs with three wickets already falling.
He, along with Rovman Powell, scored at a strike rate that might not fit into the modern T20 game, but that was what KKR needed at that time.
And then, as soon as Powell was out, it appeared as if Green had torn off his shirt to reveal the Superman logo on his chest.
He changed gears completely. Rashid Khan had to bear the full brunt of this and he was out after scoring 33 runs in just 18 balls.
One of the areas where KKR struggled throughout the season was the middle overs with the bat. But that script changed in Ahmedabad. Kolkata scored more than 100 runs between 7 and 15 overs.
At the end of 14 overs, KKR were scoring 139 runs for 4 wickets, in which Green was playing with 69 runs in 41 balls. At that time, you expected him to go beyond 200. Instead, they somehow managed to get out after scoring just 180 runs.
So what happened in the next six overs? How did those 36 balls become the decisive fall of the night and our game of the day?
KKR’s brainfed
Before reaching Ahmedabad, let’s go back to 2022. At the Brabourne Stadium against Rajasthan Royals, KKR witnessed one of the most astonishing brainfades. Chasing 218, they were at 178 for 4 after 16 overs.
Then, out of nowhere, everything fell apart. Four wickets fell in the 17th over as the batsmen sought fame instead of playing smart cricket. Instead of looking at Yuzvendra Chahal, he tried to attack him and gave away the game.
This was negligence. And a similar strange incident came to light in Ahmedabad also.
It started with Anukul Roy trying to hit a big shot against Prasidh Krishna and throwing away his wicket. Then came Rinku Singh and you expected that the man who had once created history on the same ground would be smarter. After all, he is the vice-captain of the team.
But he also fell in almost the same manner and Rabada got his third wicket. Ramandeep Singh came forward and made a brilliant start – two sixes and a four, 17 runs off just seven balls.
And then? Another big shot. Another catch. One more wicket.
Sunil Narine followed the same script. Trying to grow up. To get it wrong. Went.
And during all this chaos, Cameron Green was standing on the other end – just watching.
Not batting. Just watching. Like everyone else at home and inside the stadium, he too had become a spectator of the carnage.
Green was on 75 off 44 balls when Anukul was out in 14.4 overs. He did not get another strike till 17.1.
Just one.
Score: 76 runs from 45.
By then the momentum had completely ended.
Green got the strike back midway through the 19th over and played three dot balls before taking a single to retain the strike for the final over. He also tried a ramp shot which went nowhere and bounced just ahead of the GT fielders.
Score: 78 out of 50.
He could score only one run on the first three balls of the last over, after which he got four lucky runs. And then he finally fell into the hands of Rasheed, who took his revenge.
Final Score: 79 out of 55.
To top it all off, Green’s innings against GT progressed like this.
- 1-10: 6 runs
- 11-20: 11 runs
- 21-30: 16 runs
- 31-40: 35 runs
- 41-50: 10 runs
- 51-55: 1 run
And the result was that KKR did not take the ploy and left their in-form batsman starving for runs when that could have changed everything.
“Every batsman coming out there wanted to hit a four or a six for himself. When you have a set batsman at the other end, you have to face just 2 balls in those 3.5 overs. I mean, that’s basic cricket. We heard Angkrish Raghuvanshi before the start of the game, where he said, look, we want to go back to the basics.” Anil Kumble said on JioHotstar’s post-match segment.
“Those are the basics, where you have a set batsman at the other end, let him strike. You don’t want to go out there and then hit those fours and sixes. Yes, if there’s an opportunity, do that, but give him a chance to score big, and he was set; he knew the bowlers. They were under the pump, GT bowlers, and then you let it go, and I think it was definitely a game-changing moment for GT to come back in that game, ” he said.
Although you feel sorry for Green, it was a mistake on his part too. As a set batsman, he should have taken more responsibility to finish the innings and find a way to form strikes.
Ultimately the difference of 20 to 30 runs proved costly for KKR. Despite scoring below 180, he challenged GT with the ball push them till the last over And lost with two balls remaining.
Another game was lost. Another defeat added to the tally.
And for the three-time champions, the season now seems as if they are slipping away faster than they can stop it.
When the campaign finally ends, this six-over collapse in Ahmedabad may be the moment they look back on with the most regret.
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published by:
Amar Panikkar
Published on:
April 18, 2026 07:58 IST
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