Former Australian captain Aaron Finch came down heavily on the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and their game plan for the 2025 edition of the IPL as the defending champions were knocked out, following the washout in Bengaluru on Saturday. The Knight Riders have won just five games while losing six and a couple of their matches have been called off due to rain. Apart from Ajinkya Rahane's form with the bat and their three main bowlers, nothing really worked for the defending champions in the 18th edition of the IPL.
Finch called out KKR for not playing the batters in their respective positions and despite having a deep batting line-up, it didn't really come to their rescue when they needed it to. "I think, there's one thing, if the player is in form or not, that can be hit or miss at times in T20 cricket. But you're not putting guys in right positions to be able to find their best form or find their best way that they play," Finch told Star Sports after the RCB vs KKR clash was abandoned.
Finch admitted that Sunil Narine was extraordinary last year at the top of the order, however, it was an experiment which wasn't going to work everytime while saying that they had to open with captain Ajinkya Rahane and let Venkatesh Iyer come into the game early.
"When you look at the numbers, you say, Ajinkya Rahane, your numbers in the powerplay are exceptional but your numbers outside the powerplay, they really dip and it's not a small dip, it's a huge one. So why are you putting him in a position at No 3? Because then you expected him to bat outside the powerplay, you're hoping your openers get off to a good start and then you are putting him in a position that you know he's less than likely to succeed over and over again," Finch added while saying that it might have helped in them getting someone like Andre Russell into the game by the 12th over.
Delaying Russell, Rinku Singh and Ramandeep Singh's batting numbers didn't do them a world of good and KKR had to pay heavily for the same. Finch referred to the KKR vs RR game when Russell was introduced in the 13th over and even though he was 2 off 9 but he played out both Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana before exploding in the final five overs.
"It's amazing what happened when you give destructive match-winners an opportunity to get themselves in. So often, the players get pigeonholed saying 'he is not a great started against spin, so we'll avoid that.' Go the other way. Say, if he gets through that over against spin, imagine how destructive he can be for six overs instead of giving him just six balls.
"They've got their balance just completely wrong. And when you're going in a T20 game with nine batters in your side when they activate the sub in Raghuvanshi, you expect them to be all-out attack, regardless of the situation, you just have to keep going. There have been times this year when they have let the run rate balloon to 15 an over required with six batters still sitting in the shed. Overall, it has just been a disaster I think for KKR in terms of their planning," Finch added.
KKR will play their final game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday, May 25 in Delhi and will hope to end their season on a high.