Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Ajinkya Rahane on Sunday, April 19, went past Parthiv Patel to become the opener with the most ducks in the Indian Premier League, after he scored a two-ball duck against the Rajasthan Royals in their game at the Eden Gardens.
Under Rahane, losses have become a recurring theme, often slipping from winning positions and leaving the team low on confidence and momentum. Their lone point came from a rain-hit match against Punjab Kings at Eden Gardens.
Yet, their on-field decisions under Rahane and head coach Abhishek Nayar have also come under scrutiny and the former’s form hasn’t helped the situation.
Most ducks as an opener in IPL
12 – Ajinkya Rahane*
11 – Parthiv Patel
10 – Shikhar Dhawan
10 – Gautam Gambhir
9 – David Warner
Rahane has scored 152 runs in seven matches at an average of 25.33, with one half-century to his name.
On Sunday, Rahane registered his second duck in a row, having scored one against Gujarat Titans on Friday. Jofra Archer bowled a short-pitched delivery and Rahane went for the cut, but all he could do was get an outside edge and was caught behind.
This was also the second time that both KKR openers were dismissed for a duck in the history of IPL. Gautam Gambhir and Jacques Kallis were dismissed by the Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2014, while on Sunday, Rahane and Tim Seifert couldn’t open their accounts.
Since he scored 67 in KKR’s opening game against the Mumbai Indians on March 29, Rahane has registered scores of 8, 8*, 41, 28, 0 and 0. He is also the second KKR skipper to be dismissed for a duck in successive innings after Gambhir in 2014.
Earlier, the wily Varun Chakravarthy returned to his best, combining with veteran Sunil Narine as Kolkata Knight Riders’ spin twins dismantled Rajasthan Royals, sharing five wickets between them to restrict the visitors to a below-par 155/9.
