Rahane's captaincy under scrutiny as KKR sit bottom with two defeats from two
Seven matches into IPL 2026 and Kolkata Knight Riders are the only franchise alongside Chennai Super Kings to have lost both their opening fixtures. A 65-run hammering at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad followed a record-breaking chase by Mumbai Indians, and attention has shifted squarely onto captain Ajinkya Rahane.
Tactical calls are not landing
The criticism is specific rather than general. Irfan Pathan singled out Rahane's decision to bowl Varun Chakravarthy in the powerplay against Sunrisers Hyderabad, calling it a move that "messed things up." Chakravarthy has gone wicketless across both matches while leaking runs, and his early introduction gave Abhishek Sharma the pace he wanted to get set.
Against SRH, Rahane's bowling changes failed to contain Heinrich Klaasen, who tore the attack apart with a blistering innings. Jaydev Unadkat took three wickets, but the rest of the bowlers had little support from the field settings or over distribution.
Rinku already has a taste of leading
During the second innings against Mumbai Indians, Rahane left the field with cramps and Rinku Singh took over as captain. The 28-year-old is already the designated vice-captain, and his calm presence during that stint caught the eye of commentators and pundits.
Reports from multiple outlets suggest that KKR's management is weighing up a mid-season captaincy switch. Rahane himself has pushed back, telling reporters after the SRH loss that it is "not the end of the world" and that the team needs patience. But patience is a limited resource when you are sitting at the bottom of the table with a net run rate of -1.964.
Bowling problems run deeper than captaincy
Rahane can only work with what he has, and KKR's pace stocks are in trouble. Harshit Rana was ruled out for the season with a knee injury before the tournament started. Akash Deep followed shortly after, and Matheesha Pathirana is recovering from a calf strain. That has left the franchise leaning on a thin seam attack against some of the most explosive batting lineups in the competition.
The bowling problems are real, but captaincy is about getting the best out of what you have. Right now, Rahane's KKR do not look like a side with a plan.
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