Ajinkya Rahane rarely showcases his emotions openly and Thursday was one such day as hit out at critics for questioning his strike-rate during the 65-run loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Kolkata Knight Riders skipper scored eight runs off 10 deliveries in the 227-run chase at the Eden Gardens as the team folded for 161 in just 16 overs. Rahane accused the critics of having an agenda against him and claimed that he is among the batters with the best strike-rate since IPL 2023.
Notably, Rahane’s claims aren’t far-fetchedย as he boasts of the fourth-best strike rate (minimum 300 balls faced)ย in the powerplay since the start of 2023. He has scored 552 runs off 329 deliveries in the first six oversย at a strike rate of 167.78 and an average of 69 in 31 innings. However, Rahane gets exposed while facing during and after the powerplay as well.
“I think I have one of the best strike rates so far from 2023.ย People who are talking about me (are) probably not watching the game or they have a certain agenda against me. They don’t like me playing. They don’t like to watch me play,” he said in the post-match press conference.
His strike rate goes down to 131.11 while facing spinners in the powerplay and it further slips to 114.02 in the middle overs (Overs 7 to 15).
They are jealous of me, says Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane’s fiery response to the criticism continued as he claimed that the critics are jealous of his success. He also defended himself stating that he was intend on going hard up front but was unable to get going in the run-chase. To his credit, the KKR skipper smashed a brilliant half-century in their season opener against Mumbai Indians.
“The amount of success which I got, I guess they are jealous of me. I am not too worried. You guys know what I am doing. Just one bad innings…not a bad inning, but my intent was there. Sometimes as a batter, you don’t get that rhythm, you don’t get that flow. People who are talking, either they don’t understand the game (or) I think they want me to play a different kind of innings.
“They didn’t expect that Ajinkya Rahane will basically prove his game this much. So I am happy they are talking about me, negative or positive, either way. I am really happy that they are talking. Let them talk,” Rahane added.
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