Kolkata Knight Riders’ nightmare unfolded at Eden Gardens on Sunday as captain Ajinkya Rahane suffered a golden duck against Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2026’s 28th fixture. This dismissal marked his 12th duck as an opener—surpassing Parthiv Patel’s 11 and leaving Shikhar Dhawan, Gautam Gambhir (both 10), and David Warner (9) behind in the unwelcome list.
The collapse started early with partner Tim Seifert also out for zero, echoing KKR’s rare 2014 debacle involving Gambhir and Kallis. Rahane’s form this season is abysmal: 152 runs across seven matches, one fifty, and consecutive ducks following the Gujarat Titans game.
Middle-order efforts from Angkrish Raghuvanshi (10 off 19), Cameron Green (27 off 13, with aggressive strokeplay), and Rovman Powell (23) couldn’t salvage the chase. RR had set 156, thanks to Vaibhav Suryavanshi (46 off 28) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (39 off 29), while the rest struggled. KKR’s spin ace Varun Chakaravarthy (3/14) and pacer Kartik Tyagi (3/22) kept it tight in bowling.
As whispers grow about Rahane’s captaincy, KKR faces a steep challenge to revive their campaign in this high-stakes IPL season.
