Captain Ajinkya Rahane is facing heavy criticism as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are still looking for their first win in the ongoing IPL 2026. The 2024 IPL champions find themselves at the bottom of the points table with one point from five matches.
They have lost all their first four games so far in the tournament. Their only point came in a rain-marred match against Punjab Kings (PKS) at the Eden Gardens.
Remove Ajinkya Rahane and make Sunil Narine captain: Chris Srikkanth to KKR
Amidst the poor campaign of KKR, former Indian captain Kris Srikkanth has given a bold suggestion while questioning the captaincy of Ajinkya Rahane. Rahane is performing well with the bat, but the team is not winning matches and this is putting pressure on his captaincy.
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Now, ahead of their away match against Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad on Friday, Srikkanth suggested Kolkata Knight Riders to remove Rahane from the captaincy midway through the season and hand over the reins to Sunil Narine if things do not improve in the next few matches.
Chris Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel, “I will give one or two more chances to Ajinkya Rahane. If nothing changes, I will remove him too and make Sunil Narine the captain in the middle of the season. Rahane should come to bat only if necessary. Otherwise, just let him captain the team. He should not bat in the middle. Making him captain was a wrong move in the first place. But do they have the courage to take the strong step of removing him now?”
Srikkanth pulls up Rinku Singh for inconsistent batting
KKR’s problem is not just the captaincy, but also their overall performance in the tournament. The former Indian chief selector said that their bowling attack is very weak, due to which they are suffering a lot of losses. He also pointed to the inconsistent performance of Rinku Singh in the middle order.
There is only one positive for the Kolkata franchise this season and that is Kartik Tyagi, but Srikkanth insisted that the performance of one or two players is not enough to win matches in the IPL.
Srikkanth said, “With this bowling and batting, even he has no chance. Vaibhav Arora gives 55 runs in 4 consecutive overs. What will you do by having him as your main strike bowler? Rinku Singh never scores runs. He cannot play at 5. If 40 runs are needed in the last 3 to 4 overs, he will do that job. Otherwise, he cannot do anything. Kartik Tyagi is one such guy who is doing well.”
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Srikkanth names Rachin Ravindra, Mathisha Pathirana as game-changing options for KKR
The former World Cup winner also suggested some major changes in the playing eleven. He wants KKR to drop struggling Finn Allen and Cameron Green and bring in Rachin Ravindra and Mathisha Pathirana into the eleven to fine-tune the team combination against Gujarat Titans.
Srikkanth signed off by saying, “They should remove Finn Allen and Cameron Green. Bring in Rachin Ravindra and Pathirana. They can open with Rachin Ravindra and Rahane. That will balance the team. But their support staff themselves look better than the actual players they have.”
