“Scratched whatever’s left on my head” - Former opener’s brutal attack after MI vs KKR IPL 2025 match
Former England captain Michael Vaughan was highly critical of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batting approach during their eight-wicket loss to the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL). The defending champions were bundled out for 116 at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday, March 31, with more than three overs to spare after being put into bat first.
KKR faced a horror start with the bat as both openers, Sunil Narine and Quinton de Kock, departed inside the first two overs. Angkrish Raghuvanshi looked in solid touch, but KKR lacked partnerships as they continued to go hard. The frequent loss of wickets did not bring about a change in their approach, as their intent was evident even after they were forced to bring a batter as their impact sub.
The ploy to bring in Manish Pandey hardly made a difference as he made only 19 runs. As many as seven KKR batters were dismissed after being caught while trying to go big.
Vaughan opined that KKR's aggressive approach made no sense when the batters had time to assess the conditions and conjure up a game plan accordingly.
"I just look at the KKR approach. I mean, I'm an old dinosaur you could say, but if I am saying that you've got to give yourself a few balls, then surely in the team room they are saying that this is the kind of a pitch where you can give yourself a few balls, you can then get into six-hitting mode. It does not take you 15-20 balls to get to that mode, it takes about 8-10," Vaughan said on Cricbuzz.
"If you look, a lot of the dismissals, it was because they went too hard, too soon. I kind of scratched whatever's left on my head thinking what are some of these teams talking about, because it has always been the case at the Wankhede. Give yourself a bit of time, don't give them easy wickets early," he added.
No KKR batter faced 20 deliveries during the innings, with top-scorer Angkrish Raghuvanshi facing the most at 16. Although KKR managed to retain the majority of their batting core, barring the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Phil Salt, they have failed to click as a unit so far.
"I thought it was a collective batting failure" - KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane laments poor display
KKR lost the plot during the powerplay itself against the MI pace battery. The defending champions were reduced to 41-4, and could not recover after that. In the season opener against RCB, the KKR middle order had collapsed, while Quinton de Kock's unbeaten 97 guided the team during the win over RR.
The three-time champions are yet to put in an all-round batting display in the campaign. Skipper Ajinkya Rahane admitted that a 'collective batting failure' was the root of their defeat.
"I thought it was a collective batting failure. It was a good wicket to bat on. Absolutely we expect that at Wankhede, it has very good bounce. Sometimes you have to use the pace of this wicket, couldn't do much with the ball. The bowlers tried their best but the score wasn't enough. We kept losing wickets, four wickets in the powerplay and it was difficult to consolidate from there. It just didn't go our way tonight," Rahane said during the post-match presentation .
KKR will next face the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Eden Gardens on Thursday, April 3.