Dwayne Bravo

KKR have themselves to blame for IPL 2025 elimination: Aaron Finch

Danijones3 weeks ago04 mins

Aaron Finch feels that Kolkata Knight Riders have themselves to blame for their exit from the IPL 2025 in the group stages. KKR, who came into the competition as the defending champions, struggled to find consistency, despite retaining most of their core from last season. KKR was in a do-or-die situation after their loss to CSK at home before IPL 2025 was halted for a week and needed a win against RCB at the Chinnaswamy stadium on Saturday, May 17. However, the match got washed out with a delivery being bowled, meaning that KKR’s title defence came to an end. Speaking on Kuhl Fans Match Centre Live on JioHotstar, Finch said that the campaign didn’t start well for KKR and they fumbled the entry point for Andre Russell. The former Aussie skipper felt that the all-rounder wasn’t given enough chances to influence games. “It didn’t start well for them. Andre Russell, being the match-winner that he is and has been for such a long time, was batting too far down the order for much of the tournament. He simply wasn’t given the opportunities to influence games the way he can. They’ve only got themselves to blame,” said Finch. ‘Too many moments where KKR didn’t click’ Finch also pointed out to the CSK loss, saying that it was a game KKR had in their bag before letting it slip away. Finch felt that throughout the campaign, Kolkata failed to click at various moments. They almost kicked themselves after that last game against CSK – it was theirs to win. The match was almost wrapped up, and they still couldn’t cross the line, which turned out to be an incredible win for Chennai. Throughout the season, there were too many moments where KKR just didn’t click,” said Finch. KKR have one match left against SRH on Sunday, May 25 in Delhi. Kolkata has 12 points from 13 matches and will aim to finish on a high. Stay updated on IPL 2025 with India Today! Get match schedules, team squads, live score, and the latest IPL points table for CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS, and RR. Plus, keep track of the top contenders for the IPL Orange Cap and Purple Cap. Don’t miss a moment! Published On: May 18, 2025 Tune In

IPL 2024: Why Rohit Sharma played as an impact sub in Mumbai Indians-Kolkata Knight Riders clash | Cricket News

Danijones1 year ago05 mins

NEW DELHI: Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla stated that India captain and Mumbai Indians opener Rohit Sharma was compelled to play as an impact substitute in the IPL match against Kolkata Knight Riders because of a “mild back stiffness”.IPL ORANGE CAP | IPL PURPLE CAP | IPL POINTS TABLETheir 24-run defeat against KKR, in which Rohit was an impact substitute, saw him score just 11 runs in 12 balls in the second innings. This loss almost saw the five-time winners eliminated from the IPL this year.“He just had a mild back stiffness so it was just a precautionary thing,” Chawla told the media after the match here at the Wankhede Stadium.Mumbai’s eighth loss in 11 games has put an end to the Hardik Pandya-led team, and Chawla also acknowledged that their only remaining motivation is “pride”. “For the pride and the reputation, because sometimes when you enter on the field, you don’t think whether you are going to qualify or you are not going to qualify,” he said.“You have to play for your name and that’s what we are playing for,” he added.MI’s lack of momentum throughout this IPL season, according to Chawla, is the cause of their subpar play.“You must have often heard about that T20 is all about momentum and just that we didn’t get that momentum going this season and it can happen to any team,” he said. “It’s not like it’s happening to us for the first time or any other team for the second time. It can happen to anyone and it’s just that that momentum was not our way.”On Friday, the 35-year-old Chawla overtook Dwayne Bravo to claim 184 wickets, becoming him the second-highest wicket-taker in the IPL.“It has been a beautiful journey because IPL started 17 years back and at that time nobody gave that much preference to the spinners, but now if you see that in top few wicket takers in India, especially all the spinners, Ashwin, Yuzhi, myself (are there), so it’s a good feeling,” he said. In addition, Chawla commended Manish Pandey for his performance in his first game of the season despite being under pressure. As KKR scored 169 all out in 19.5 overs, Pandey (42) and Venkatesh Iyer (70) shared 83 runs for the sixth wicket.“It was a good partnership and credit has to go to them because they batted beautifully. Well, T20 is something in which experience plays a big role, (which is) what we saw today.“When Manish walked in, maybe if somebody walks in who must have played few games, he would have panicked that runs are not coming.“But he read the situation and the way he handled the situation because if you see in starting, he was hardly going at run a ball. But later on, he knew that he has to stand there with Venky.” (With PTI inputs)