KKR needed some form of intervention. When nothing was going right for them, the rain gods came to their rescue. For the 35000 fans present, to see Varun Chakravarty being hit all round the park by Prabhsimran Singh was a story of the IPL. It was a campaign going south. None of the bowlers were penetrative and on a wicket where batting wasn’t a piece of cake, Punjab had scored 200 plus.
Most KKR fans were frustrated at the dinner break. It was going to be a very difficult chase against the likes of Arshdeep, Jansen and Chahal and another loss on home turf would mean KKR almost out of the competition. But that’s when the storm came. And it was heavy. The groundstaff, hundreds of them, were finding it impossible to cover the square and by the time things were all done, the rain had started. Kolkata, literally, needed it. The heat and humidity was unbearable and no one complained. KKR too needed it. A lifeline of sorts and a form of divine intervention. A point against the odds could well be what this team needed. Cricket is a funny game and all of a sudden you could see things change for the better.
While rain helped KKR get away with a point last night, a few questions on some of the calls taken. Even against GT, it was Andre Russell who picked up the first wicket. And thereafter he did not bowl a single over. Yesterday it was the same. Russell picked up the marauding Priyansh Arya and only came back to bowl the final over. Is he not fit? Is this part of some plan that none of us are able to comprehend? Why would you not bowl Andre Russell for more if he is picking wickets? The way Russell was running along the boundary line, he did not look unfit and that’s where the question stems from.
KKR finally got Rovman Powell into the team. A very welcome call. But where was he supposed to bat? More when you are chasing 200 why don’t you open with him and give him the hard ball and the field restrictions? Why are you being so predictable? Most teams, including Punjab, has thought out of the box and the results are for all to see. Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran are key to their success. Gurbaz, in the many years that he has played, has never been consistent. Why not try Powell at the top of the order and do something different?
Coming back to the rain- may I say no KKR fan would be grudging it. As the rain lashed the city and brought some welcome relief from the heat, the KKR change room must have felt the same. It was unexpected help and cricket has seen many such instances in the past. India had almost lost the first Test to England in 2007 when rain saved them at Lords. Thereafter the team under Rahul Dravid went on to win the Test series 1-0 thanks to some stellar bowling from Zaheer Khan.
Take the 1 point. It is part of the story. Regroup and restart. The gods don’t want the campaign to end or the fans to be disappointed. In sport it is never say never.
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Rain had the final say after #Prabhsimran and #PriyanshArya‘s fifties steered PBKS to a competitive score of 201 v #KKR. The teams collected one point each.https://t.co/rowV7dVoFy
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) April 26, 2025