Kolkata Knight Riders bowling fell flat as Rohit Sharma (78) and Ryan Rickelton (81) stitched together a 148-run opening stand to power Mumbai Indians to a convincing six-wicket win, chasing KKR’s target of 221 runs on Sunday.
During MI’s chase, everyone was wondering why was allrounder Cameron Green, KKR’s costliest buy at the auction, not given the ball. Even Kevin Pietersen during commentary, kept repeating the question.
And no wonder, in the post-match press conference, KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane faced the same question: why didn’t Green bowl in the match? A little irked Rahane replied, “That question you need to ask Cricket Australia.”
It has been learnt that as per Cricket Australia’s directive, Green is not allowed to bowl because of injury concerns. But Rahane is hopeful that Green would soon start bowling in the coming matches.
“Hopefully Green starts to bowl soon and the combination will be slightly different. It was really tough (for bowlers). Inexperienced bowling attack, but these boys will learn. So it’s a learning curve. I thought MI batted well. So our bowlers will definitely learn,” Rahane said.
Rahane hobbled out in the fourth over of Mumbai’s chase, and when asked, he assured that it was only cramps and nothing serious.
“Feeling okay but lot of cramps, especially my calves. Hopefully I’ll be okay.”
Asked about his knock of 67 off 41 balls, he was happy how he batted during KKR’s opening match in IPL 2026.
“I am still young,” he said in jest.
“But yeah really happy with the way I am batting at the moment. We batted really well but finding that balance with the ball is really important,” he added.
MI have always been slow starters and have never won their first game in 13 IPL seasons, but this time around they were able to break the jinx. Mumbai captain Hardik Pandya said it was a long wait.
“Obviously it’s been a long wait. Every time we’ve come we wanted to start the season on a high. The whole group is very glad we were able to do it,” he said.
Pandya said the target of 221 looked achievable on that wicket and credited the bowlers to restrict KKR under 250.
“Modern cricket, plus we’ve seen what this wicket plays like. Credit to the bowlers, not letting KKR fly away to 240s or 250s. Those become tough targets but 220 is always chaseable.”
He also lauded the opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton, who added 148 runs in just 72 balls.
“Rohit and Ryan were outstanding. Ryan has done very well for us last year and whenever I see Ro (Rohit) play some shots, it opens everyone’s mouth. Nothing short of excellent, nothing short of outstanding,” added Pandya.
