Ajinkya Rahane, the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders, is enduring a tough season in the Indian Premier League, as poor on-field results and off-field issues continue to trouble the side. KKR suffered yet another defeat in the 19th edition, this time against Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, further extending their disappointing run.
Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India fined Rahane for maintaining a slow over-rate during the match. Officials recorded it as KKR’s first offence of the season under Article 2.22 of the IPL Code of Conduct, which governs minimum over-rate violations.
This is not the only instance of disciplinary action that Rahane received this season. The first captain fined was Shreyas Iyer when Punjab Kings (PBKS) violated over-rate rules several times, and was fined INR 12 lakh and INR 24 lakh. Shubman Gill, the captain of Gujarat Titans (GT) and Ruturaj Gaikwad of CSK also received INR 12 lakh fines each, their first offence.
On performance front, KKR campaign has been lackluster. The three-time champions are yet to register a win in their first five matches. They were defeated by Mumbai Indians (MI), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), and their game with Punjab was called off. They have since lost to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and CSK leaving them at the bottom of the points table.
What is more worrisome is their losing streak. KKR are on a seven-match losing streak in IPL, which began in the last season. This is their second-poorest performance in the history of the tournament, only last year, 2019. Their most significant setback has been the nine consecutive match defeats of the 2009 season.
Talking of the game last night, CSK managed to score 192/5 with Sanju Samson and Dewald Brevis scoring 48 and 41 respectively. Kartik Tyagi had a share of 2/35 in his four overs at KKR. In the chase, the Kolkata based franchise could make 160 with Ramandeep Singh leading with 35 run with the other players of the batting line failed to deliver sufficient results to take the team across the finishing lines.
