KKR keep ticking crucial boxes as they stay in playoff hunt following another comprehensive performance against CSK.
KKR keep ticking off crucial boxes as they find themselves growing from strength to strength with each passing game.
In IPL 2025, they have not won back-to-back games, but they have also not lost back-to-back games. According to Sanjay Bangar, they have made the required adjustments to the team after every loss—three so far, with three victories—and that has allowed them to remain relevant.
Bangar attributes the defending champions’ current third-place standing on the points table to KKR “slowly and steadily trying to learn from the mistakes” and accomplishing “on the go” checklists.
They added Moeen Ali as their third spinner against CSK on Friday night in the hopes that his offspin would provide a solid matchup against a team that was dominated by left-handers. Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, and Moeen took six wickets between them in 12 overs to choke CSK and stop them at 103 for 9, proving that they were no match for KKR’s spinners.
Bangar was also thrilled with Rinku Singh’s elevation to No. 4. In order to make room for Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who, depending on the circumstance, steps in as the Impact Sub at No. 4 or No. 5, Rinku has been filling in at No. 6 or 7. Rinku went out at 85 for 2 on Friday, finishing on 15 off 12, with little to do.
“They picked the right squad,” Bangar said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show. “They were very circumspect of the fact that the mistake that they did in the previous game [against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)] of delaying Rinku Singh – wait till the very end. They promoted him at No. 4 [against CSK]. So they clearly are understanding what their mistakes have been.
“Like in the earlier instances, they played Angkrish in the earlier games. They sensed, they took a right call to have him on the bench and not necessarily playing XI straightaway when they were batting first. So they are a team which is slowly and steadily trying to learn from the mistakes that they are making and what needs to be done, they are trying to fill those boxes on the go.
“And that is always a strategy that smart teams do because they don’t really want to linger on to their mistakes for far too long.”