IPL 2025 | "I think on 15 points we can still qualify": Skipper Ajinkya Rahane optimistic on KKR's qualification

KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane during his 33-ball 48 against CSK in Kolkata on Wednesday. Pic/AFP

Ajinkya Rahane feels there is still a lot to play for, reminding everyone that the door to the Playoffs hasn't shut on the Kolkata Knight Riders yet. "I think on 15 points we can still qualify," the KKR skipper said after Wednesday's two-wicket defeat to the Chennai Super Kings, alluding to the unlikely possibility of results of other matches aligning in KKR's favour. "We have to be positive; think about how we can win the next two games," he spelt out the job at hand as KKR go on the road to Hyderabad and then Bangalore.

Vaibhav Arora's 30-run over

He pointed to the 11th over, which yielded 30 runs, with Dewald Brevis, the 22-year-old all-rounder from South Africa, hammering Vaibhav Arora for three sixes and three fours. "That one over, one big over was the difference," he said, but defended his pacers, giving credit instead to the CSK batters. "They batted really smartly; didn't take chances against Sunny [Sunil Narine] and Varun [Chakravarthy]," he pointed out.

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For CSK, it's been all about constructing the future once they were out of the race. On Wednesday, three injury replacements were given a go.

"It was an opportunity to do some scouting, to have a look at some younger talent coming through, and see if they can handle the pressure," said CSK's batting coach Mike Hussey, echoing what skipper MS Dhoni said at the post-match presentations. "I don't think it sends any message to the guys who were in the squad to start with."

Seventeen-year-old Ayush Mhatre, who had hammered a 48-ball 94 against RCB on Saturday, fell cheaply on Wednesday. However, the other two injury replacements made significant contributions to the CSK win. IPL debutant Urvil Patel hit four sixes and a four in a 11-ball 31 before Brevis, a replacement for Gurjapneet Singh, turned the match on its head.

Hussey hails young stars

Hussey reminded that for all three, it was the first taste of victory in CSK colours. "So, I mean, it's so exciting. These are the guys that hopefully are going to be the future of CSK." The Aussie agreed that the expensive 11th over forced Rahane's hand. "I too would have tried to turn to my trump cards," he said of Rahane bowling out both Narine and Chakravarthy by the 14th over.

It did fetch the wicket of Brevis, but also eased the chase in the remaining six overs.