IPL 2025: Hurt KKR wants to invoke 2014, 2021 memories to stay afloat

The morning after must not have an easy one for defending IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders, who now have a mountain to climb after succumbing to their fifth defeat in eight matches on Monday. They now need to win at least five of their remaining six matches — three of them at home — to give them themselves any chance of making the play-offs.

It has been an insipid campaign so far under new captain Ajinkya Rahane, with batters failing to hold their own, though the bowling department has been doing its bit in both pace and spin. The biggest letdown was when the Knights collapsed to 95 all out chasing a paltry target of 112 against Punjab Kings in the previous game. Then on Monday, their chase of 199 on an Eden wicket which demanded some application against Gujarat Titans was completely all over the place.

The Knights now have four days to regroup for the next match against Punjab Kings at home on Saturday, and the team management wants the pack to draw on their memories of the 2014 and 2021 campaigns. ‘’See, this team has a history of resilience and I would ask them to look back at those editions and what we did there,’’ KKR CEO Venky Mysore said.

Speaking at the launch of their CSR initiative #ShahoshiRani on Tuesday, an effort to create social impact through sport and empowerment among underprivileged women across West Bengal, Mysore looked back in time: ‘’Back in 2014, the first half of the league took place in the UAE and we managed to win only two of the first seven matches. We were then unbeaten for the next nine, including the play-off and the final, to win our second title in three years.

‘’In 2021, we were languishing at the bottom of the table after the first leg in India but eventually finished runners-up,’’ said the long-serving official at the event, which marked the eighth edition of Knight Golf at the historic Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) course. Proceeds from this charity event, in which a few KKR stars took part, will go to support the Meer Foundation and other initiatives focused on empowering women facing socio-economic adversity.

Dwayne Bravo, the KKR mentor who was present on the occasion along with skipper Rahane, had to field a number of tough questions on the dip in their performance after a dominating campaign last year. The issue of Rovman Powell, former West Indies T20 captain and one of the biggest hitters around, not getting a game came up, what with Andre Russell — one of their biggest matchwinners in the past — looking a shadow of himself so far.

‘’We had to think about the combination,’’ offered Rahane, who also welcomed the return of Abhishek Nayar to the fold as a member of their support staff after he was axed from the Indian set-up. ‘’It’s great to have Abhishek now, he has been a part of this system and is extremely passionate about the game,’’ said the former India international, who waged a lone battle with a fifty during the limp chase against Gujarat Titans last night.

Bravo, meanwhile, put up a brave face and said the boys would have to regroup quickly and do their best in the remaining games. A two-time T20 World Cup winner and a legend of franchise cricket, Bravo refused to blame matters on the wicket and admitted during the post-match media interaction last night that his boys had played some "bad cricket".

‘’We haven’t had a chance to talk about the game after a late finish last night. There is no outside pressure on us but we will have to practice hard and try to do our best in the remaining games,’’ the West Indian added.   

The #ShahoshiRani initiative, which works in a number of directions — Play It Forward, Skill Up For Equality and the Vidushee Programme — also had beneficiaries from each being represented at the event.