Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane remains hopeful of playoff qualification following a heartbreaking loss to Chennai Super Kings at Eden Gardens on Wednesday. He believes KKR can still make it if they win their remaining two league matches, both of which are away fixtures.
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00:01I'll stick to this game. You mentioned about one big over and that changed the momentum towards CSK.
00:09And Vaibhav tried his best. I thought both of their batters, Dubey and Provis, they were brave.
00:18They took their chances and that paid off. So that can happen to anything.
00:22But I thought we still came back into the game really well.
00:25We wanted to pick up wickets. We picked up five wickets initially and they had a very good partnership.
00:31But after that, we knew that a couple of wickets, we can still come back into the game and that was the plan.
00:37And I thought as a bowling unit, we did that pretty well.
00:40Six balls, eight runs, MS only on strike. It's tough sometimes, you know.
00:44He can hit a good ball for a six and that's what happened.
00:47Dre tried the Yorker. I thought it was a pretty good ball but went for a six.
00:5212-14 runs would have been really nice, last six balls.
00:57But again, I thought as a team, we fought back really well.
01:01Batting-wise, I thought 15 runs, probably 190. 195 was the total on this wicket, we thought.
01:09But bowling-wise, I thought we did everything what we asked for.
01:13Yeah, I think 15 points we can still qualify. We still got to think positive.
01:26We have two games left, one against Hyderabad and then Bangalore.
01:30So, you know, as a team, we have to be positive, you know, think about, you know, how can we win next two games.
01:36I think as a team, we are playing very good cricket. Last three games were really good.
01:40This one didn't go to our plan, you know. But again, as a team, we are coming back.
01:45Russell, you know, found his form again. Bowling-wise, he's bowling well.
01:49Other ballers are contributing well as well. So, we have to be positive, you know, think about winning next two games.
01:56And then let's see what happens on 15 points.
01:58Sure.
01:59I'm not speaking to this game. Rohit, I have prepared call time on his case KD and Rohit.
02:06Oh, is it?
02:08Yeah.
02:09Oh, okay. I didn't know.
02:10He has his case retirement.
02:11Okay.
02:12So, if you want to say something about Rohit.
02:14No, I think I just want to wish him the best. I thought he has done fantastically well in the test format.
02:22I was, I didn't know. I was actually, you know, I'm actually shocked. I didn't know that he retired in the test format.
02:27But I just want to wish him the best. Whatever his plans are, he has done really well, you know.
02:34Improved his game, I thought, as a test batter. He started his career five, six numbers and then opened the innings.
02:43I thought the way he adapted to that opening slot was amazing to see.
02:47You know, he always wanted to, you know, take on the ballers, play with freedom.
02:51And that's what he wanted other players to do as well, play with freedom.
02:55So, I just want to wish him the best.
02:58Probably I'll call him, you know, once I go back to the dressing room or send him a message.
03:02But just want to congratulate him on a fantastic test career.
03:06Hi, Jaysh.
03:07You did say a 12-15 run shot. This has been an answer which has come a lot of times in the
03:16defeats. But there wasn't really any collapse for KKR today, neither in the previous games.
03:20And KKR also battled No. 9 with Rashid at 10. Still a 10-15 run shot, clearly there's something
03:25like round in the middle or some other point of the game. It has been the theme of the season,
03:32you know, a few years of struggle. But could you just break down that?
03:35How come KKR being a 10-15 run shot when your batting is still 9?
03:40No, I thought instead of, you know, thinking, talking about our batters, I thought they
03:45bowled really well. If you see Pati Rana's two overs, it was crucial. Six runs and then
03:50obviously closing that over really well. You know, our batters tried really well. It's
03:55not about, you know, we were not showing that intent. I thought every batter, they were showing
03:59that intent. It is bound to happen, you know. When we went too hard, you know, we scored,
04:05we actually got out in the previous matches. So, we had our strategies, you know, how to go
04:09about it for six overs and then after six, seven to twelve, thirteen overs and then thirteen
04:14to twenty overs. So, it was about the plan. I thought we were going really strong and I
04:19thought we will get there by around 190-195. But Noor and Pati Rana, I thought those four
04:24overs from them in the end was amazing. Credit to them as well. You know, it's not easy to bowl
04:30those overs. Those are the difficult overs for the ballers. Our batters tried everything, you
04:35know, Russell, Rinku and Manish as well. You know, playing a game after a long time. I
04:40thought he handled the situation pretty well. I don't think our batters did anything wrong.
04:47I thought CSK ballers were pretty accurate today and they executed their plans really well.
04:52Can I ask a follow-up? Yeah. Okay. Ajit Kya, if you chose to pack it out first today,
04:58you can say you were seeing a stat that the last ten years no KKR captured in the evening game
05:02has batted first. Was it pitch or you wanted the runs on the board so your batters had less pressure
05:07in the first game? It was all about putting runs on the board. Because if you see throughout the season,
05:14Batchmen have been struggling. So we wanted Batchmen to go out there and play with freedom.
05:21And the last two games we batted first and we won the game. If you see GT game as well,
05:26we chose to bowl first and we wanted to chase the target. But we could actually slow down.
05:31So we thought if we can bat well, put runs on the board. And I thought we were on the right path to win the match.
05:39But it's a part and parcel of the game. You know, 15 runs here and there. One big over from CSK side.
05:46That changed the momentum for them. But the main thought was, you know, put runs on the board.
05:51Give Batchmen the freedom, fearlessly, and then we can defend the total.
05:56Thank you, everyone.
05:58As you can see, this is a very much more time. You had up the CSK side back in the Rabao,
06:055-6-2-4-5 after the Mouth win. But from there also, you couldn't even defend the total or bowl their own.
06:11So will you say the bowlers lacked today in that way?
06:14I thought, I don't think we lacked, you know. They took their chances. You know, they batted really smartly.
06:20They didn't take chances against Sunny and Varun. You know, they waited for the other bowlers.
06:25And then when Vaibhav came in, they took his chances and that really paid them off.
06:31I don't think bowlers were, you know, they didn't do, I thought personally, they didn't do anything wrong.
06:37That one over, one big over was the difference between the innings.
06:41That one over, two big over were the best.
06:44And then, we thought, I was a little bit inclined.
06:50I mean, the MVP, it was just fine.
06:52I like the MVP thing.
06:53That's it, I mean, it's just fine, but it's like a lot of people, you know.
06:58That's fine.
07:00I mean, it's just fine.
07:02I thinking about why you do a lot of people, that's really fun.
07:04I think it's just a lot of people that you do.
07:06I think the MVP, I think it's alright.