Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane has hit back at criticism around his strike rate, suggesting that there is a “certain agenda” and an element of “jealousy” behind the chatter.
Questions on his strike rate came up after KKR slumped to a 65-run loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Thursday. Chasing a steep 227, the home side never had any impactful partnership despite a promising start and folded for 161 in 16 overs to remain winless so far this season. The loss placed the focus on Rahane’s own performance and strike rate. The KKR skipper, who managed 8 off 10 balls on Thursday, was uncharacteristically sharp as he reacted to the criticism.
“My strike rate, I think I have one of the best strike rates so far from 2020. People who are talking about me, probably not watching the game or they have certain agenda against me. They don’t like me playing,” he said without mentioning anyone in specific in the post-match media interaction.
“They don’t like to watch me play. The amount of success which I got, I guess they are jealous of me. I am not too worried.”
Approaching 38, the out-of-favour India player has been a transformed batter and was Mumbai’s top run-getter in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, scoring 391 runs from 10 innings at a strike rate of 161.57, finishing among the top five batters in the competition.
Rahane was also KKR’s leading run-scorer last season despite a poor eighth place finish in their title defence. As a result, the franchise kept faith in him as its skipper. But his middle-over slowdown has been a concern. Against Mumbai Indians in their opening game, Rahane cruised to 36 off 18 balls but only managed 31 off next 22 balls without a boundary.