Kamal Ghorui
KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane made a sarcastic remark involving Cricket Australia after Kolkata Knight Riders lost their IPL 2026 opener to Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.KKR went down by six wickets as Mumbai chased 221, with Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton leading the effort.
After the match, Rahane was asked why Australian all-rounder Cameron Green was not used with the ball despite KKR struggling to break the partnership in the middle overs. Green, the costliest overseas player in IPL history, did not bowl in the match.“Hopefully Green starts to bowl soon, and the combination will be slightly different. We batted really well but finding that balance with the ball is really important,” Rahane said after the match.When former West Indies cricketer Ian Bishop asked why Green did not bowl, Rahane responded with a smile. “The question you need to ask Cricket Australia,” he said, leading to a brief pause in the discussion. Bishop replied, “Oh! We’ll leave it at that.”Rahane also spoke about leaving the field during the second innings due to cramps. “Feeling okay, just a lot of cramps through my calf, both the calves actually. Hopefully, I’ll be okay,” he said.On the game, Rahane said KKR’s bowlers had a difficult outing. “It was really tough. I thought 220-225 was a good total. We batted well, but our inexperienced bowling attack will learn. Playing against Mumbai Indians’ strong batting lineup is always a challenge. It’s a learning for us.”Mumbai Indians ended a long wait for a winning start to an IPL season, beating Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by six wickets in a chase of 221 runs at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.Mumbai had not won their opening match of an IPL season since 2012, but they broke that run with a successful chase at home and they do it by pulling off their biggest chase in IPL history.The previous highest for MI was 219 runs against CSK at Delhi in 2021.Openers Rohit Sharma (78 off 38) and Ryan Rickelton (81 off 43) set up the chase with half-centuries, giving the team a strong start. The batters who followed kept the scoring going as Mumbai completed the chase.The last time Mumbai had won their opening game was in 2012 against Chennai Super Kings.Earlier, KKR posted 220 for 4 after half-centuries from captain Ajinkya Rahane (67) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (51).
