Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane was forced to leave the field with an apparent foot injury during his side’s IPL 2026 season opener against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on March 29.
Rahane went down clutching his foot just before the start of the fifth over in the Mumbai Indians’ chase. After receiving on-field attention from the physios, the KKR skipper walked off gingerly, raising immediate concerns for the visiting side early in the contest.
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In his absence, vice-captain Rinku Singh took charge as the stand-in on-field skipper.
Earlier in the evening, Rahane had led from the front with the bat, scoring a fluent 67 off 40 deliveries. The veteran right-hander struck three fours and five sixes, setting the tone on a placid Wankhede surface as Kolkata Knight Riders posted a competitive 220 for 4 in their 20 overs.
Rahane found solid support from young Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who compiled a well-paced 51, while Finn Allen provided early impetus with a brisk 37 off 17 balls. The trio ensured KKR maintained a high scoring rate throughout the innings.
Mumbai Indians’ bowling unit struggled to contain the flow of runs for large parts of the innings. Shardul Thakur emerged as the standout performer with figures of 3 for 39, delivering crucial breakthroughs to stall KKR’s charge.
Senior pacers Trent Boult (0/38) and Jasprit Bumrah (0/35) went wicketless, though Bumrah’s disciplined spells at the death ensured KKR were kept in check and prevented the total from escalating closer to the 250-mark.
Rahane had started aggressively, dispatching Boult for a wristy six over wide long-on in the opening over. The momentum surged further when Hardik Pandya leaked 26 runs in the fourth over, with Rahane and Allen capitalising on erratic lines and lengths.
KKR raced to 78 for 1 at the end of the powerplay and crossed the 100-run mark inside eight overs, with Rahane striking at over 200 at one stage and looking set for a three-figure score.
However, Thakur’s twin strikes across spells dented KKR’s momentum. He first removed Allen, caught by Tilak Varma at long-on, before dismissing Cameron Green with a well-directed short and wide delivery that resulted in a sharp catch by Sherfane Rutherford.
Thakur later returned to deceive Rahane with a slower cross-seam delivery outside off, inducing a mistimed shot that was safely taken at cover by Pandya.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
