Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Ajinkya Rahane came under severe criticism for opting to bat first in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 match against the Punjab Kings at the Eden Gardens on Monday. The call did not make sense to several pundits, including Anil Kumble and Ravichandran Ashwin. For starters, there was rain predicted for the contest between the two teams, and hence, traditional wisdom would have said that the captain who won the toss should have bowled first, as the team would have had the benefit of knowing the target. Secondly, Eden Gardens has traditionally been a hard ground to defend totals on, and hence, the call to bat first further raised a few eyebrows.
KKR were also without their spin duo of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy for the contest against the Punjab Kings, and the bowling department was slim; hence, one expected Rahane to bowl first. However, he shocked one and all by deciding to bat.
The call was instantly proven wrong as Xavier Bartlett made the ball talk under overcast conditions, dismissing both Finn Allen and Cameron Green in the same over. Soon after, rain started pouring, and the game had to be stopped.
During the break, both Kumble and Saba Karim put Rahane under the scanner for opting to bat under such conditions, saying bowling would have been the better option.
“I am surprised that Rahane won the toss and chose to bat first. On a pitch like this, where there’s some rain around, ideally, you would want to field first,” Kumble said on the JioHotstar broadcast during the rain break.
On the other hand, former senior men’s selector Saba Karim said, “I cannot understand this call. I cannot wrap my head around it.”
Ashwin echoes same sentiment
Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin echoed the same sentiment as Kumble, calling KKR’s thought-process “interesting” after they opted to bat first. Taking to X, he wrote, “When you know it’s going to be a rain-affected game, with an inexperienced bowling attack at your disposal, you choose to bat first. Interesting thought process. #ipl2026.”
Former Bengal batter Sreevats Goswami also wasn’t pleased with Rahane’s tactics as he called out the call of batting first on a day when it was expected that the game would be a shortened one due to rain.
“Very surprised to see Rahane winning the toss & electing to bat first on a overcast condition. Bit of a shocker there. Immediately you can see swing and 2 caught behinds. Very very brave call. #kkr,” he said.
Rahane has been making quite a few headlines in the IPL 2026 season as he has been more combative, quite contrary to his nature. After the loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad, the right-handed batter lashed out at his critics, saying they are “jealous” of him.
The KKR finally got a point on Monday after the fixture against Punjab Kings was called off due to the wet outfield. The franchise had earlier lost the games against the Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
