Rahane: 'I take the blame for the loss; I played the wrong shot'

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Ajinkya Rahane has taken the blame for his side's failure to chase down 112 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Mullanpur, but called it "a collective failure of the batting unit". After KKR were skittled for 95 in 15.1 overs, Rahane said that his batters were pretty reckless with their shots in going after a target which was "pretty chaseable".

That Rahane was hurting was apparent when he spoke to the host broadcasters. The usually unflappable Rahane even mentioned that he needed to be "really calm" when talking to his team-mates about the 16-run loss.

"Nothing to expect. You all saw what happened there. Pretty disappointed with the effort," Rahane said immediately after the match. "I'll take the blame. As the captain of the team, I played the wrong shot even though it [the ball] was missing [the stumps]. But again, it started from there.

"We batted really badly as a batting unit, and we take full responsibility as a batting unit. I thought bowlers did really well on the surface, restricting a strong Punjab batting line-up to 111."

Later, at the post-match press conference, Rahane said, "It's not like Punjab bowled very well. I think we played bad cricket as a batting unit. I take this responsibility as a captain that we couldn't chase this down. But individually, I'm sure, all the players, especially the batters, will think about their own game and improve in the upcoming matches."

KKR lost two early wickets in the chase, but Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi steadied the ship with a 55-run third-wicket stand. Raghuvanshi counter-attacked, scoring 37 off 28 balls, and, at that point, the chase seemed straightforward. But the game changed when Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed Rahane lbw. He walked back without opting for the review. Replays revealed that the impact was outside off stump.

"As a batter, I thought that I could save the review for later. It shouldn't happen that I take a review and lose it, then we are only left with one review," Rahane said. "The communication between the two batsmen [him and Raghuvanshi] wasn't that clear. If someone clearly tells you that the impact can be out or it can miss, you take a review as a batter.

"But generally, the batsmen in front of you, you think about what they say. The communication wasn't that clear: 'Maybe it could be the umpire's call, maybe it could be hitting'. That's why I didn't take a review. But again, no complaints. Apart from that, we also were pretty bad as a batting unit. And that was the reason we lost today."

The wicket brought PBKS back into the game. Chahal ran through the middle order with 4 for 28 as KKR lost their last eight wickets for 33 runs.

"See, as an individual, you still have to be confident, be positive," Rahane said. "Let the ball come and then just take your chances, keep the intent going, but look to play cricketing shots. I thought on this wicket, the sweep was pretty hard to play.

"So again, you've got to be really positive, keep that intent going. But we were a little reckless and we should take full responsibility as a batting unit."

Rahane stressed that the KKR batters were not complacent and that they hadn't won the game in their heads before they had. However, he did suggest that the batters lacked "game awareness".

"All the players are confident. They are pretty experienced enough to handle all the situations," he said. "I wouldn't say we were complacent or we were overconfident. It's always about... we didn't bat well. That's the truth and the honest answer.

"It's not only about being complacent or taking things for granted. I don't think we are doing that. Yes, we didn't bat well. We didn't have that game awareness, what the situation demanded on that wicket. When we lost those three-four wickets, it was only about taking your time. Even singles. That was important.

"It was not a flat wicket. There was something for the bowlers. We had to grind it out. T20, I believe, is not only about hitting sixes. Though we are seeing at this moment that most of the players are going for big shots, they want to look good while batting, it's not about that. It's all about reading the situation well. Having that game awareness as a batter, as an individual and then take the game forward - that's what I thought we lacked today."

What was Rahane planning to say to his team-mates after a heartbreaking loss like this? "At the moment, there are too many things going in my head. It is still early. Let's see. When I go upstairs, I need to keep myself really calm and then think about what to talk to the boys.

"You still have to be positive. It's still halfway to the tournament. As a team, as a unit, we still have to be positive and keep a good brand of cricket. But at the same time, we would definitely like to address the stuff."