Kolkata Knight Riders all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer backed their skipper Nitish Rana’s decision to bowl the 1st over against Rajasthan Royals which at last proved to be very costly for their side. The KKR skipper’s decision backfired for their side as he gave away 26 runs in the opening over defending a total of 150 runs on Thursday.
The KKR Captain conceded the second-highest runs in the opening over in the history of the league next to Abu Nechim’s 27-run over for Mumbai Indians against RCB in 2011. The 29-year-old decision was highly debatable as they had three front-line spinners in the bowling lineup.
Rajasthan Royals youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal went all guns blazing against the KKR skipper to score two sixes and three boundaries to shift the momentum completely in favour of the 2022 finalist in the iconic Eden Gardens.
Speaking to the media, after their loss against the Rajasthan Royals which potentially ruled them out of the Playoffs contention, Venkatesh Iyer defended the decision of Nitish Rana as he picked up important wickets throughout his career and said that things would have been different if picked up in the first over.
“We all know what Nitish is capable of with the ball in hand, he has picked up crucial wickets in his career, and with a left-hander on the crease, don’t think off-spinner is a wrong option. Unfortunately, it did not go in our favour. Had he picked up a wicket it would have been a masterstroke. These things happen on the field,” Venkatesh Iyer said.
In the previous game against Punjab Kings, Nitish Rana picked up the important wicket of Shikhar Dhawan but could not replicate his success against Yashasvi Jaiswal in the 1st over of the game.
Don’t Care What The World Says About Me – Nitish Rana
Nitish Rana lauded Yashasvi Jaiswal for his blistering knock against them and said that he thought 180 runs was a good score at the surface they played against Rajasthan Royals and also admitted that they were not good enough with the bat to post a big total.
“Jaiswal’s innings was praiseworthy. Today was one of those days in life where nothing I thought 180 was par. We made a lot of mistakes with the bat and it’s the reason for losing out on two points,” Nitish Rana said after the match,” Nitish Rana said.
“Don’t care what the world says about me. I bowled first because I thought I could gamble as a part-timer and get the in-form Jaiswal out but it was his day,” he added.
The Kolkata Knight Riders team will find it hard to make it to the playoffs as they will depend on numerous results that go in their favour going into the tournament. The two-time champions will take on Chennai Super Kings in their next away game, where they will look to make a comeback in Chennai.