Decoding KKR's opening woes in IPL 2025
What's the story
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Ajinkya Rahane has candidly accepted his side's opening woes in the 2025 Indian Premier League season. This comes after KKR lost by 39 runs against Gujarat Titans (GT) on Monday while chasing 199. Rahane was disappointed over his side's failure to get strong starts throughout the tournament. Here we decode KKR's opening woes in IPL 2025.
Performance review
Rahane emphasizes need for improvement in batting
In the post-match presentation, Rahane reflected on his team's performance, saying they had a good comeback with the ball but struggled with their batting. "We came back into the game really well with the ball. You expect good opening starts, but that's what we've been struggling with throughout the tournament," Rahane stated. Notably, KKR lost Rahmanullah Gurbaz (1) in the opening over before Sunil Narine, the other opener, perished for 17 in the sixth over.
Stats
An average of 19 for the first wicket
As per Cricbuzz, the KKR openers have managed just 152 runs in pair across eight innings for the first wicket this season. While the team's average (19) for the opening wicket is the lowest this season, they have the second-worst run rate (8.44) in this regard. The defending champions are yet to witness a 50-run opening stand this year as their best partnership for the first wicket has been 46.
Stats
Decoding the stats of openers
It must be noted that six of KKR's eight games have seen Quinton de Kock start the proceedings alongside Narine. The former was dropped for the aforementioned game against GT as he has only managed 143 runs across seven innings so far at 23.83. Notably, 97 of his runs came in a solitary game. Narine, who's primary role is with the ball, has managed 147 runs at 21. Gurbaz made one in his only game this year so far.
Dip
Major dip from last season
It must be noted that openers played an instrumental role in KKR's title-winning campaign last year. Narine constantly gave KKR flying starts alongside Phil Salt, who is now with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The former overall smashed 488 runs in IPL 2024 at an incredible strike rate of 180.74. He slammed the most runs for KKR. Salt scored 435 runs as his jaw-dropping strike rate of 182 was the third-best among batters with 350-plus runs in the season.
Information
KKR's playoff chances look bleak
KKR are currently seventh in the team standings with just three wins in eight games. A couple of more losses this season might see their official exit from the playoff race. Hence, they must overcome their opening woes sooner than later.