Ajinkya Rahane, captain of Kolkata Knight Riders, faced heavy criticism following another loss. Though spirits dipped, he turned eyes toward what worked. Standing tall through the gloom: Cameron Green’s bat finally sang again. After quiet knocks lately, his 79 off just 55 felt steady, almost calm, under Friday's pressure against the Gujarat Titans.

Fifth loss now weighs heavily on KKR, as momentum slips further. A single point clings from that washed-out game against the Punjab Kings. Balance remains off, try as they might. Stuck at the ladder’s base, hope flickers under clouds both literal and figurative.

“It’s never easy to speak after a loss, but we’ll take the positives”, says Ajinkya Rahane

Hard to talk following a loss, yet Rahane chose to highlight what went well. Things got tough when three quick wickets fell up front. That stumble shifted the momentum early. Still, he pointed toward brighter moments despite the five-wicket result

He reserved special praise for Green, whose innings helped KKR stay competitive. “Cameron Green’s knock was outstanding. He was under pressure, but the way he counterattacked and took on the bowlers was great to see. At 147 for 4, getting close to 180 was not easy for us as a batting unit,” he noted.

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Rahane also highlighted the effort from his bowlers, applauding their resilience despite a string of poor results. “It’s not easy when results aren’t going your way, but the bowlers kept pushing and showed great intent.”

He mentioned Green hadn’t done much with the ball because of how his body was holding up. Cramps had crept in for the Australian all-rounder mid-game, cutting short his stints outside and shutting down any chance to bowl.
Shubman Gill moved through innings with a smooth 86 runs, holding Gujarat Titans steady amid pressure. Still, despite the win, he sensed his team might have sealed things more sharply.

“Ideally, we would have liked to finish the game earlier,” Gill said. “I was disappointed with the way I got out because I wanted to be there till the end and see the team through.”

Halfway through, KKR can’t rely only on standout moments if they want to shift how things are going. With each game passing, Rahane’s group must start turning good patches into steady wins - otherwise the climb gets steeper by the week.