IPL 2025: KKR’s playoff hopes extinguished; What went wrong for them?

IPL 2025: With just one game remaining, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are already out of the playoff race — what went wrong this season?

Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were knocked out of the race for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 play-offs after their match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru was abandoned due to rain. However, KKR blew hot and cold this season and had a lot at their plates to work on and come back stronger next season.

First, let’s take a look at the few things that worked in favour of KKR this season:

KKR batted and bowled well but in patches; Angkrish Raghuvanshi a future star in making
Kolkata’s batting was not entirely in doldrums this season. In a few matches, they came together to score a total above 200 three times, and came close to chase a target of 239 against Lucknow but fell short by 4 runs. There were also a few brilliant fifties from Ajinkya Rahane, Andre Russell, and Quinton de Kock. Their bet on 20-year-old Angkrish Raghuvanshi paid off, with the batter, coming mostly as Impact Player, struck one fifty and aggregated 286 runs at a strike rate of 145.18 in 11 matches so far. Their bowling too had their moments this season with both pacers, led by Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora, and world-class spinners in Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine dictating terms to the opposition.

But things didn’t go as per plan and defending champions missed the play-off berth. So, what went wrong for them?

Rahane did his bit as captain, but KKR missed their charismatic skipper Shreyas Iyer
Replacing Shreyas Iyer, who led KKR to their third IPL title last season, was no mean task. Rahane could not draw the same intensity, performances and collective team work from his players. Although Rahane led from the front with a few brilliant cameos, it didn’t leave a lasting impact on the team. He could not win matches single-handedly with a big score and inspire his teammates. His teammates fail to respond to their captain’s call. It won’t be a surprise if KKR look for a new captain next season. 

Also, KKR made their costliest buy Venkatesh Iyer (₹23.75 crore) vice-captain, while a new buy Rahane at his base price of Rs 2 crore was made the skipper. It perhaps didn’t go too well within the team as even though Rahane comes with a lot of experience, his methods, strategy and leadership could be considered too outdated to meet the demands of T20 cricket. Nevertheless, Rahane did his bit to rally the resources he had at his disposal, but could not inspire them to perform as champions like they did last season.

Read More: Venkatesh Iyer has underwhelmed in IPL 2025 with ordinary returns; Was KKR right in buying him back?

Batting – individual brilliance, not collective teamwork
Lack of consistency from batters hampered the team’s chances. Rahane, Venkatesh, Russell made a few brilliant fifties, but those were few and far between. The batters could not come together collectively to knock the opposition out, and hence, KKR lost a few close games that they should have won. The 4-run loss to Lucknow and the 95 all out in chase of 112 against Punjab hurt KKR’s chances in the race for play-offs. Iyer could not live up to the promise of last season, Russell came too late to the party when the play-off berth hung in balance, Rinku came too lower down the order to make consistent scores, while the openers – Sunil Narine, Quinton de Kock, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz  – flattered to deceive. The constant chopping and changing also didn’t help the team either. 

Bowling attack was inconsistent
KKR missed the charismatic presence of Mitchell Starc this season. Starc, who leaked runs initially, came back strongly in the business end of IPL 2024 to win the title for the team. The Ranas and Aroras didn’t have a presence of Starc to fall back on for guidance and inspiration. Although Rana and Arora did their best within their capability, KKR suffered for the lack of a quality international bowler. The spinners, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine and Moeen Ali, had their moments, but could not rally together to deliver knockout punch consistently.

Read More: IPL 2025, KKR vs CSK, Highlights: Brevis shines as Dhoni takes CSK home; KKR’s playoff hopes jolted

The way ahead

Plug in the loopholes with smart buys for next season
KKR would by now have identified the shortcomings in their squad. The lack of a quality international pacer, lack of consistent performance from openers, the middle-order frailty, bowling combinations were a few weaknesses they needed to work on. 

They have to invest in a star pacer who could rally the young Rana and Arora. Spencer Johnson wasn’t in the same league as Starc. 

Also, KKR need to figure out their best opening combination. They tried Narine-de Kock, Narine- Gurbaz, but they could not get the great starts they expected of them. Maybe, it is time to look beyond them. 

Also, KKR need to find how best to utilize the services of Russell and Rinku. If they bat too low, KKR would not be able to draw the best out of them. 

Also, KKR need to finalise a good leadership group who can take the team forward in the next few seasons. Will they take a hard call on moving on from Rahane and investing in a new leader? 

The coaching staff also have to be regrouped where a charismatic leader as mentor may inspire the team to play above their potential. Except for Gautam Gambhir, the coaching staff had the same look this season, but could not lift the team’s spirit to play quality cricket consistently. A quality mentor like Kevin Pietersen or Gautam Gambhir could do wonders to the team’s dynamics and help lift the team’s fortunes come next season. 

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