Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane suffered a blow to his hand while fielding in KKR's clash against Delhi Capitals on Tuesday, April 29. Rahane was struck by a ball off the blade of Faf du Plessis when he was fielding at short cover. The KKR skipper went off the field and did not return for the remainder of the innings.
In Rahane's absence, Sunil Narine led the team as vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer was subbed out of the match after the first innings. The KKR skipper was heavily strapped and had opened up on his injury after KKR's 14-run win over the Capital in Delhi.
"Not bad. I will be okay. I will be fine," Rahane had said in the post-match presentation after his team's victory. Meanwhile, KKR all-rounder Anukul Roy has given an update on Rahane's injury, saying that he has got a few stitches on his hand.
"It doesn’t look too serious. He may need a couple of days to recover. The doctors will assess and provide more clarity, but for now, he’s doing fine. He got a few stitches," said Anukul.
KKR defended 204 after restricting Delhi to 190/9 on the back of a brilliant bowling effort from Narine. The West Indies veteran, who went for 19 runs in his first two overs without a wicket, turned the tables in his next spell as he took out three crucial wickets. He broke the set partnership of Axar Patel and Faf du Plessis after removing the former in the 14th over. He then got Tristan Stubbs in the same over before also getting Faf in his next one.
Rahane highlighted those two overs from Narine were the game changer ones. "After 13 overs, those two overs from Sunil. When he picked those wickets, that was the game for us. 204 on that wicket was good, but frankly I felt we were 15 runs short. Russell one over in between and good support from Anukul and Varun," he said.
KKR have returned to winning ways and are very much alive in the race to the playoffs. KKR have four wins in 10 matches and need to win all the next four to get on 16 points. The defending champions next face Rajasthan Royals at home.