Kolkata Knight Riders finally ended their winless run, ending their first half of the season with a crucial win in a low-scoring thriller against Rajasthan Royals. It has been a tough season for KKR, who haven’t played great cricket, but at the same time seen plenty of things go against them.
Failing to find results is always a difficult process, and even the best athletes find it extremely taxing to be in that frame of mind for extended periods of time. With a win that got them off the foot of the table, the emotions come to the forefront after the match, as star spinner Varun Chakravarthy told the press that there were tears in the locker room.
“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 in a press conference, reflecting on how finding the result meant that this win mattered more than most.
“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,” said Chakravarthy – KKR have been the butt of many jokes and much criticism in recent weeks, which can certainly play mentally. Being resolute is key, and KKR need to dig deep to achieve that.
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‘Courageous’ coaches earn credit from Varun
“At such times, you need a strong core, and we have that,” expressed Chakravarthy. “We started this tournament with many injuries and it actually crippled us even before it began.”
KKR lost players like Harshit Rana, Akash Deep, and Matheesha Pathirana in the days leading up to the IPL, hamstringing their pace attack in particular. With the batters also struggling for form and Chakravarthy himself battling injury and not being himself, it was a cocktail of disaster. Slowly, the players are finding form and some additional resources join the team.
But most important for Chakravarthy was ensuring that spirit didn’t snap within the KKR dressing room, which meant Abhishek Nayar in a leading role had to step up and take responsibility – something he aced.
“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,” concluded the spinner.