Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan stated that one of the issues Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will have to address in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season is batter Rinku Singh’s form, pointing to a decline in his performances following the breakthrough 2023 season.
The Knight Riders are extremely concerned about Rinku’s performance because he had a poor T20 World Cup, scoring just 24 runs in five innings. Since his breakthrough season in 2023, when he hit five straight sixes against Yash Dayal during a 200+ run chase against the Gujarat Titans (GT), his performances in the IPL have also declined.
”We will have to see how much opportunity he gets to play. His 2023 season was outstanding. He scored 400-450 runs with a strike rate of 150. But after that, his performance dipped, and many times he did not get enough opportunities. He will have to maintain his standard and maximise the opportunities he gets,” Pathan said on his YouTube channel.
”Even in the World Cup, he played five matches, but he could not fully capitalise on the chances he got. This is another problem that Kolkata needs to rectify, and Rinku Singh is one of them,” he said.
Rinku scored 474 runs in 14 innings with a strike rate of 149.52 and an average of 59.25 in 2023, including four fifties. Since then, though, he has only managed to score 374 runs at an average of 23.37 in 22 innings, with an unbeaten 38.
Giving spinner Varun Chakravarthy the confidence he needs following a decline in form during the T20 World Cup will be a problem, according to Pathan.
He had a strong start to the competition, taking nine wickets at an economy rate of slightly over five in four group stage games. However, in a massive decline, from the Super Eight opener to the final, he only took five wickets in five games, and his economy rate doubled.
”The challenge is how to bring Varun back with confidence given his current dip in form. He will play 14 matches, some of which will be at Kolkata’s ground, and he has definitely performed well in this league before. With the good memories he has in Kolkata, perhaps in a slightly different atmosphere, he might perform even better. I believe he will manage it, so although this is a challenge, Varun Chakaravarthy will overcome it,” said Pathan.
With 17 wickets at an average of 22.52, an economy rate of 7.66, and best figures of 3/22, Varun was the seventh-highest wicket-taker of the previous season. Varun has taken 99 wickets at an average of 23.74 in 83 games for KKR, with two four-wicket hauls and best figures of 5/20.
