Former Indian batsman Manoj Tiwary criticized Ajinkya Rahane’s leadership during the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) season when the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) lost to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by two wickets. After the last-over loss at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday, May 7, the reigning champions’ hopes of making the playoffs are all but gone.
Ajinkya Rahane had won the toss and chosen to bat first in their final home game of the season, which was a must-win match. A number of cameos throughout the innings helped KKR record 179-6, demonstrating a respectable batting performance.
KKR took five wickets in the powerplay, taking advantage of CSK’s problems in the top order. With the majority of the overs from Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine still remaining, the visitors were teetering at 60-5.
Shivam Dube and Dewald Brevis formed a partnership to pull CSK out of danger, but a huge 30-run over against Vaibhav Arora completely changed the tide of the match. Brevis was dismissed in the thirteenth over, allowing KKR to claw their way back in, but MS Dhoni and Shivam Dube ultimately got their team over the finish line.
Experienced captains like MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, and Rohit Sharma, according to Manoj Tiwary, would not have allowed the game to slide away after cutting the opposition to 60-5.
“Today also some batters were unutilized, which is why they are saying about being 15 runs short. But, bowlers should have closed it out, they should have dealt with it. How can you lose the match after getting five wickets (for 60 runs), you cannot lose from such a position.”
Manoj Tiwary
Rahane’s captaincy, in my opinion, was a bit flat. If you had given this situation to Rohit, Hardik, or MS, they would have ensured a win 95 out of 100 times,” he added.
The Knight Riders have had a rather ordinary performance at the home ground, winning only two of the seven IPL 2025 matches played. They are also going to face the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB in their last matches of the tournament.
Manoj Tiwary Criticizes KKR Batting Order for Mismanaging Rinku Singh’s Role
The former Indian batsman also blasted KKR for promoting Manish Pandey above Rinku Singh in the batting order. After scoring an undefeated 28-ball 36, the veteran was added to the playing XI in place of the injured Venkatesh Iyer. In contrast, Rinku Singh faced six balls to reach nine runs before being dismissed by Noor Ahmad in the penultimate over.
“There is no consistency in batting or bowling, not even when it comes to the batting order. Today, it was Manish Pandey’s first game this season, and in a must-win game for the team, the batters who have already been playing like Ramandeep, Moeen Ali, and Rinku, they should have been sent out earlier.”
Manoj Tiwary
“No matter how many matches Rinku Singh is playing, it always feels that he is not getting enough balls to face. Today also he only got to play nine (six) balls.”
Manoj Tiwary
Rinku Singh has so far played 12 IPL innings this year in which he has faced only 128 balls — mostly coming in to bat at 6 or at a lower position in the batting line-up. On the other hand, the left-handed batter featured in 14 IPL 2023 matches and faced 317 balls out of them.
