“That would have been very important”

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan slammed the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for their tactics against Virat Kohli in their IPL 2026 clash against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). KKR suffered a six-wicket defeat in Raipur.

Before the KKR clash, Virat Kohli had registered two consecutive ducks. However, he slammed an unbeaten century against Kolkata. Irfan Pathan was unhappy with how KKR did not create enough pressure on Kohli right at the start of his innings. He reckoned that Sunil Narine opening the bowling against the star RCB batter could have helped build some pressure.

“If a player has been out twice on zero, the first run is very important for him. You must not give the first run easily, which KKR gave Virat. Maybe they could have given the very first over to Sunil Narine. I feel that would have been very important. There is a difference in scoring that first run off a fast bowler and a spinner. They were unable to create that pressure,” he said on his YouTube channel.

Narine has dismissed Kohli four times in the IPL. The star batter also has a strike rate of just a touch above 100 against the veteran spinner.

Irfan Pathan also expressed that KKR were short despite having put up a total of 192/4 after batting first. He reckoned that Ajinkya Rahane and his team should have scored more runs. Further, he also slammed them for dropping Kohli’s catch early on, which eventually cost them the game.

“Kolkata scored fewer runs. I had told even before the game began that there would be more runs scored on this wicket comparatively. Kolkata could have scored more. They also dropped Kohli’s catch, which should have been taken. You must take such chances,” he stated.

With nine points from 11 games, KKR’s hopes of qualification hang on a thin thread. A defeat in a must-win clash against RCB means that their campaign this season may already have come to an end.

Irfan Pathan praises RCB for their solid performance

Irfan Pathan also praised RCB for their solid performance. The defending champions moved right back to the top of the table after beating KKR. They now have 16 points from 12 games and are in contention for a top-two finish.

“RCB are at the top, which they deserve. They are playing that kind of cricket. They have certainly qualified, and even this year, they are in the top four. The season is almost done for KKR. The template for RCB in this game was that if Hazlewood does well with the new ball, then things become easy for them. The opposition did not put much pressure or attack him,” he said.

RCB will be up against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) and SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their last two league stage matches.

Edited by Rishab Vm