Top News

Yet to win a single game in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 campaign as the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Ajinkya Rahane has hit rock bottom. While his team is yet to taste victory in the first five matches, with the latest defeat coming against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Tuesday, Rahane has also been reprimanded by the Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council for a Code of Conduct breach in the last match. The KKR skipper has been given a Rs 12 lakh fine after his team failed to maintain the required over-rate against Ruturaj Gaikwad's Super Kings in Chepauk.

In a release, the IPL said: "Kolkata Knight Riders Captain Ajinkya Rahane has been fined after his team maintained a slow over-rate during Match No. 22 of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 against Chennai Super Kings at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.

"As this was his team's first offence of the season under Article 2.22 of the IPL's Code of Conduct, which pertains to minimum over-rate offences, Rahane was fined INR 12 lakhs."

As for the match, CSK spinner Noor Ahmad roared back to form with figures of 3 for 21 while pacer Anshul Kamboj continued his impressive run, bagging 2 wickets for 32. The duo shared five wickets between them as the Super Kings won their second match of the season, moving up to four points from five games and moving to eighth spot in the 10-team standings.

Defending a competitive total of 192/5, CSK struck early and maintained control throughout, restricting KKR to 160/7 in 20 overs despite late resistance from Ramandeep Singh, who topscored for them with 35, and Rovman Powell, who contributed an unbeaten 31.

KKR changed their opening pair for this match, with Sunil Narine joining Finn Allen instead of skipper Rahane at the top. While Narine showed early intent with a couple of sixes, Allen fell cheaply as Kamboj struck in the second over to provide CSK an early breakthrough.

Narine failed to build on his start and fell to pacer Khaleel Ahmed during the Power-play, leaving the three-time champions struggling at 36/2 for their lowest total after the powerplay score since 2024. Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi attempted to rebuild the innings, briefly lifting the scoring rate with a mix of boundaries and sixes.

But, in the end, KKR fell well short of the target of 193 runs. They were restricted to just 160/7, with the likes of Finn Allen and Cameron Green faltering with the bat again.