'Ajinkya Rahane Era Needs To End Tonight' - KKR Captain Told 'Pack Your Bags' After Golden Duck Against Gujarat Titans

(MENAFN- Live Mint) There seemed to be no ending to Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) struggles in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) after they registered another poor start against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday in Ahmedabad. Having dropped Finn Allen for Tim Seifert, KKR began with the New Zealander smashing Mohammed Siraj for a four through the off-side.

But the start was shortlived as skipper Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed for a first-ball duck, off Siraj, caught by Kagiso Rabada. Going by the statistics, this was Rahane's 22nd duck in the shortest format of the game. Interestingly, 14 out of Rahane's 22 ducks in T20s have come in IPL only.

Also Read | IPL 2026: Ex-India cricketer urges KKR to drop Rahane if fortunes don't change

To make matters worse, KKR lost two more inside the powerplay - Seifert and Angkrish Raghuvanshi - cheaply. The poor start didn't go well with the frustrated KKR fans as they called for Rahane's era as KKR captain to end.

“Time's Up, Ajinkya. Pack Your Bags. The Rahane era needs to end tonight. Zero performance, zero playoff hopes, and zero reason to keep him. If Rinku isn't firing with the bat or the brain, release him too. But first, get Rahane away from the captain's armband before the next game. Enough is enough,” one user commented on X (formerly Twitter).

"Ajinkya Rahane as T20 captain in @IPL premier cricket league on the planet in 2026. What are your intentions @KKRiders?? What is his future in T20 cricket? Do you see him making comeback for national team?" another said.

Also Read | IPL 2026: Kolkata Knight Riders come harsh on Finn Allen during GT vs KKR

Questions were also targeted towards KKR CEO Venky Mysore on the release of IPL 2024-winning captain Shreyas Iyer.“It's high time one ask question to Venky Mysore why he let go Shreyas Iyer and make Ajinkya Rahane Captain. We gonna lose every match. @KKRiders,” a user wrote.

Earlier, Rahane won the toss and opted to bat first against Gujarat Titans. While Seifert was KKR's only change, the hosts went with an unchanged team that won games in their previous two matches.

Also Read | GT vs KKR prediction: Who'll win today, Gujarat at home or desperate Kolkata? GT vs KKR playing XIs

Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill(c), Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler(w), Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Ashok Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

Kolkata Knight Riders: Tim Seifert, Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi(w), Rovman Powell, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi

Catch the live updates from IPL 202 with the complete IPL 2026 Schedul and the IPL 2026 Points Tabl. Also, know who are currently leading the charts in IPL 2026 Orange Ca and IPL 2026 Purple Ca.

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