IPL 2025: ‘Watery Grave' For KKR At RCB Home As Tournament Restarts To A Damp Squib

Rain played spoilsport in Bengaluru on Saturday (May 17) night, even as the IPL 2025 resumption had led to massive highs for fans who managed to troop inside the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The build-up had been massive with the resumption of the IPL seen as balm for tormented souls who had been witnessing images of war between India and Pakistan.

'Operation Sindoor' has been put on hold, yet, for both the IPL teams, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), it was important to press the reboot button.

Ajinkya Rahane-led KKR All But 'Eliminated'

Damn, it rained till 10:23 pm and forced play to be called off. Split points mean RCB have a big chance of making the Playoffs even as it was a 'watery grave' for Ajinkya Rahane's side.

First, the positives and emotions behind RCB. With Virat Kohli retiring from Test cricket and speculation now emerging if he will play County cricket in England at the same time as India go there for a five-Test tour, the intrigue increases.

For those who had said they would not watch cricket after the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar, Kohli evokes the same passion and emotions. So, it was no surprise, outside the stadium, white T-shirts/jerseys sales peaked. They were bought and worn by RCB fans, as they packed the Chinnaswamy Stadium to the rafters.

When the rain ruined play and points were split, Kohli and RCB fans, which is not just those present inside the stadium but also the ones who formed an army on social media, were happy.

For KKR, it was doom and gloom in a season of misery and incompetent performances. The easiest thing would be to take a swipe at captain Ajinkya Rahane, named skipper at the last minute.

KKR Think Tank Failed

Two things, for the champions from the 2024 edition of the IPL to fail so badly was expected. The team management had messed up right from the time they let go of Shreyas Iyer the winning captain.

Many people blame Sanjiv Goenka as a bad boss at the Lucknow Super Giants. Can KKR boss Venky Mysore touch his heart and say he had prepared the best side at KKR? No way. From the time they spent a bomb on Venkatesh Iyer at the IPL Auction held in December, it was clear, KKR were getting swayed in the wrong direction.

Come on, to spend Rs 23.75 crores on Venkatesh was madness. It was an obscene sum. For those who will say the other Iyer, Shreyas, and Rishabh Pant went for even bigger prices, they commanded it. KKR just went bonkers over Venkatesh. It did defy logic and was unjustified.

What's Next For KKR? Post-Mortem??

There can be multiple post-mortems for KKR in the coming weeks and months. The easiest way out to deal with a 'dead body' is to consign it to flames or bury it. Indeed, the KKR team of 2025 in the IPL has been a horror show.

Going by preliminary reports, coach Chandrakant Pandit will be the first victim and the rest will follow. And for those who still think it was coach Gautam Gambhir who had a magic wand in his hand in 2024, no, it was Shreyas Iyer leading the way.

Letting Shreyas Iyer Go Was A Mistake

What was the relationship between Gambhir and Shreyas is well-known. Even after they have left KKR, there is plenty of bad blood. So much so, that Shreyas does not get picked for the India A team tour to England. Not to digress, it tells you a lot about how the KKR side was even when it was winning in 2024.

Frankly speaking, Ajinkya Rahane must be wondering why he accepted the captain's job at KKR. It's one thing to play cricket for Mumbai in first-class versions, be it red ball or white ball.

Bad Leadership Let Defending Champions Down

KKR may have done well in the IPL many times, but the atmosphere is toxic. Imagine, even a curator at the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) who manicures the Eden Gardens, Sujan Mukherjee, has his say. Where did that leave Rahane, who was holding his head in horror early on in the IPL 2025 when tracks were not designed to his request?

A side with two quality spinners in Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine at KKR was supposed to be devastating. Nothing like that was seen from the duo in this IPL. Was it bad leadership or a lack of performance from them, the team management knows best. What will rankle, the defending champions falling by the wayside hurts KKR fans. The famous 'khela hobe na' can be heard loud and clear.

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The author is a senior sports journalist with experience of more than three decades