‘You at least have to be close to 90-odd runs in first ten’: Pujara on KKR’s poor batting performance

NEW DELHI: India veteran Cheteshwar Pujara shared his thoughts on the defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) poor batting performance against Gujarat Titans (GT) during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash at the Eden Gardens on Monday.

The Knight Riders went with nine batters in the cash-rich league encounter against the Shubman Gill-led side but were unable to chase down the target of 199 runs at their home ground. The highest scorer for them in this match was their captain, Ajinkya Rahane, who scored 50 runs from 36 balls, which came with the help of five boundaries and one maximum.

Despite fielding nine batters in this high-stakes encounter against the Shubman Gill-led Gujarat side, the defending champions KKR failed to chase down a target of 199 runs on their home turf. Their highest scorer was skipper Ajinkya Rahane, who managed 50 runs off 36 balls, including five boundaries and one six.

Speaking on KKR’s poor batting performance, Cheteshwar Pujara said on ESPNcricinfo’s Time Out, “It wasn’t a kind of pitch where you leave too many runs behind. It wasn’t a flat pitch where in the last five overs, you can get 60-70 runs. It looks like they didn’t bowl well in the first innings because there was enough turn on it. They should have been chasing somewhere around 180. On that pitch, if you are leaving more than ten runs an over in the last ten, then you are always chasing the game. You at least have to be close to 90-odd runs in the first ten.”

Coming to the match, KKR won the toss and opted to bowl first.

A 114-run stand between Sudharsan (52 in 36 balls, with six fours and a six) and Gill, who went to scored 90 in 55 balls, with 10 fours and three sixes, served as a solid foundation for a big score. Then a 58-run stand between Gill and Jos Buttler (41* in 23 balls, with eight fours) took GT to 198/3 in their 20 overs.

Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy, and Andre Russell got a wicket each for KKR.

During the run-chase, KKR, except for their skipper Ajinkya Rahane (50 in 36 balls, with five fours and a six), failed to put up much of a fight as superb spells from Prasidh Krishna (2/25) and Rashid Khan (2/25) reduced them to 159/8 at the end of their 20 overs.

Gill was given the ‘Player of the Match’ for his knock of 90 runs.

KKR have slipped to the seventh spot with three wins and their fifth loss, while GT maintained their supremacy at the top with six wins and two losses, giving them 12 points. (ANI)