Kolkata: Having an 80-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) made an amazing comeback in IPL 2025. Vaibhav Arora, who took three wickets, and Venkatesh Iyer, who smacked a blazing 60 from 29 runs, led the squad. Iyer mentioned something maybe embarrassing for Ajinkya Rahane post-match. Iyer clarified that although Rahane’s earlier desire on a spin-friendly surface looked contradictory, the squad pays little heed to the state of the pitch and believes they should fit whatever pitch is available.
In the post-match briefing, Iyer said that professional cricketers believe any pitch can be used. He remarked that although overanalysing the pitch conditions is not necessary, having decent conditions at their home ground would definitely be an advantage. Rahane reportedly asked KKR’s pitch curator to create a spin-friendly pitch prior, but that request was turned down.
KKR’s winning approach has been to adapt to the circumstances; force won this game also. After winning the toss, SRH chose to field first, but KKR scored 200/6 thanks to a brilliant half-century from Angkrish Raghuwanshi and explosive innings by Iyer and Rinku Singh. SRH was left with a difficult target as a result. Iyer continued, saying after they understood the conditions and the pitch, their strategy was to be careful with the innings and not try strong shots right away. They would slow down and then attempt to gather impetus.
This strategy worked when Iyer and Rinku Singh let the SRH bowlers work after gathering momentum from the fifteenth over. In response, SRH lost their opener in the powerplay and was bowled out for barely 120 runs, giving KKR an 80-run victory.