"They would have ensured a win 95 out of 100 times" - Former India batter slams Ajinkya Rahane's captaincy during KKR vs CSK IPL 2025 match 

Former India batter Manoj Tiwary criticised Ajinkya Rahane's captaincy during the Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) two-wicket loss to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. The defending champions' playoff ambitions are as good as over following the last-over defeat at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday, May 7.

In a must-win clash in their last home encounter for the season, Rahane had opted to bat first after winning the toss. KKR put in a decent performance with the bat, and posted 179-6, aided by a series of cameos throughout the innings.

KKR made the most of CSK's top-order woes, and claimed five wickets in the powerplay. The visitors were tottering at 60-5 with the bulk of the overs from Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy still remaining.

The pair of Dewald Brevis and Shivam Dube struck together a partnership to rescue CSK from the precarious situation, before a massive 30-run over against Vaibhav Arora shifted the momentum altogether. KKR were able to claw their way back in again by dismissing Brevis in the 13th over, but MS Dhoni and Shivam Dube were able to get their side over the line in the end.

Manoj Tiwary opined that seasoned captains like Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, and MS Dhoni, would not have let the game slip away after reducing the opponent to 60-5.

"Today also some batters were unutilized, which is why they are saying about being 15 runs short. But, bowlers should have closed it out, they should have dealt with it. How can you lose the match after getting five wickets (for 60 runs), you cannot lose from such a position," Manoj Tiwary said on Cricbuzz.

Rahane's captaincy, in my opinion, was a bit flat. If you had given this situation to Rohit, Hardik, or MS, they would have ensured a win 95 out of 100 times," he added.

KKR have largely been unconvincing on home turf, recording only two wins out of seven matches in IPL 2025. They are scheduled to play a set of away matches against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to close out their campaign.

"No matter how many matches Rinku Singh is playing, it always feels that he is not getting enough balls to face" - Manoj Tiwary slams KKR batting order

The former India batter also slammed KKR's decision to promote Manish Pandey in the batting order ahead of Rinku Singh. The veteran was included in the playing XI for the injured Venkatesh Iyer, and scored an unbeaten 28-ball 36. Rinku Singh, on the other hand, faced six balls to score nine runs before falling to Noor Ahmad in the penultimate over.

"There is no consistency in batting or bowling, not even when it comes to the batting order. Today, it was Manish Pandey's first game this season, and in a must-win game for the team, the batters who have already been playing like Ramandeep, Moeen Ali, and Rinku, they should have been sent out earlier," Manoj Tiwary pointed out

"No matter how many matches Rinku Singh is playing, it always feels that he is not getting enough balls to face. Today also he only got to play nine (six) balls," he added.

Rinku Singh has only faced 128 deliveries across 12 innings in IPL 2025 so far, largely coming out to bat at No.6 or below in the batting order. In comparison, the left-handed batter had faced 317 balls in 14 matches during his illustrious IPL 2023 campaign.