IPL 2026 | ‘It’s tough… we have to make changes’: Ajankya Rahane’s dressing room warning as KKR hit rock bottom cricket news
New Delhi: Disappointment on Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya RahaneOn Tuesday, his team suffered another defeat by losing to Chennai Super Kings by 32 runs in the IPL 2026 match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. After the defeat, Rahane shook hands with the players, congratulated the CSK camp and then went straight to talk to the broadcasters.KKR have endured a tough season so far and are currently at the bottom of the standings.In five matches, they have not won a single match so far, lost four and one has drawn no result. With just one point and a net run rate of -1.383, KKR have significant chances in the coming games.“I think it’s tough at the moment. Yes, we’re not winning matches, it’s tough.” It’s important for all of us as a group to stay positive, keep your head high, keep your chin up, just focus on the moment,” Rahane said after the match.He said, “Yes, we have to sit in the dressing room, think about the combinations. We have to make any changes. Sometimes you support the players, the results are going in your favour, then it is fine. But if the results are not going in your favour, then you have to think about the combinations. But apart from that, I thought it is all about staying positive and keeping us alert.”After posting 192/5, CSK restricted KKR to 160/7, with Noor Ahmed returning impressive figures of 4-0-21-3.Rovman Powell (31 not out) and Ramandeep Singh (35) showed resistance by putting on a 63-run partnership, but it was not enough to prevent defeat.“No real pace off the bat. At all. I thought we backed off the ball really well.” 190 runs on this wicket was really good, especially they got 70 runs in the powerplay. After that, getting back to 190 was an amazing job by our bowling unit. I initially thought that with our batting, we would have scored just 36 or 37 runs in the powerplay. I thought that was really important. It was a bit challenging to hit the spinners in the middle stage, but apart from that, the wicket was really good. Rahane said, we needed a batsman who would bat deep and then take it to the end.For KKR, Karthik Tyagi took 2/35, while Sunil Narine returned figures of 4-0-21-1.“(On Tyagi) I think all the credit goes to him. I mean, he is bowling really hard in the nets. He is bowling really well and is a great talent. The pace at which he is bowling at the moment is amazing. So I am really happy for him. Game by game, he is improving his skills. (On his spinners) Yes, all the three spinners. I mean, if you look at CSK’s spinners too, they have Bowled really well. It was not easy for the batsmen to hit big sixes unless you bowled really well. it was easy. Otherwise, putting it back and then crossing was not an easy option for the batsmen. So I thought from both sides, the spinners bowled really well. “Like I said, we just have to keep our heads up and stay positive and have confidence.”KKR will next face Gujarat Titans on April 17 at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
