Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) spinner Varun Chakaravarthy has revealed that he saw ‘many tears’ in the dressing room after the team’s first win of IPL 2026 over Rajasthan Royals (RR).
The three-time champions were winless for six games in a row — their worst such streak — and reeling at the bottom of the table with a solitary point coming from the rain-washed game against Punjab Kings. After picking the same 12 that lost to Gujarat Titans, and losing the toss, KKR’s spinners showed their best form to restrict RR to a sub-par 155. They chased it down in the final over with a record seventh-wicket partnership.
“Very, very significant. I can tell you I saw many tears in the dressing room today, which we didn’t even see in the year we won the IPL in 2024,”
Chakaravarthy said after the match, as quoted by PTI. “The main credit goes to the coaching staff because they didn’t let the outside noise affect us. There were too many people making judgments that were totally baseless. At such times, you need a strong core, and we have that.”
Chakaravarthy had the most right to be emotional, for he emerged as the Player of the Match with a three-wicket haul for just 14 runs.
Chakaravarthy credits Abhishek Nayar
Some of KKR’s issues, at least on the bowling front, could be explained by their injuries — Harshit Rana, Akash Deep and Matheesha Pathirana (who arrived on the eve of the RR match) — and unavailabilities — Mustafizur Rahman. Still, some losses were attributed to poor tactics from the new head coach, Abhishek Nayar, who doesn’t have a great record.
“We started this tournament with many injuries and it actually crippled us even before it began,” Chakaravarthy argued. “So I would like to give credit to the coaches, especially Abhishek Nayar. If you’re taking up a team in such conditions, you need a lot of courage. He has taken up the team in a very tough situation. Slowly, step by step, one win here, one win there, we will be back on track.”
KKR lifted to ninth place after the win, though having played one more match than the tenth-placed Mumbai Indians.
