‘They are jealous of me, they don’t like my playing’ Ajinkya Rahane furious after the defeat against SRH; Who told you the lies?

KKR vs SRH: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Ajinkya Rahane has hit back at the criticism regarding his strike rate after the crushing 65-run defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). While chasing the target of 227 runs at Eden Gardens, Rahane could score 8 runs in just 10 balls, after which questions started being raised on his batting.

Critics accused of running agenda

Rahane said in the press conference after the match, “Those who are talking about me, maybe they are not watching the match or they have some special agenda against me in their mind. They do not like my playing. They do not like watching me playing.”

Rahane claimed that his strike rate has been the best since IPL 2023. He said that his strike rate is the fourth best among batsmen who have played at least 300 balls in the powerplay. During this period, he has scored 552 runs in 329 balls in 31 innings, in which the strike rate was 167.78 and the average was 69.

‘They are jealous of me’: Rahane

Rahane further said, “The amount of success I have got, I think they are jealous of me. I am not too worried.” He admitted that in the match against SRH, his intention was to play aggressively from the beginning, but he could not find the rhythm in the run chase. Rahane said that it was just a bad innings and sometimes the batsman does not get the right flow.

Reminded of good performance against Mumbai

In his defence, Rahane also mentioned the brilliant half-century he scored in the first match of the season against Mumbai Indians. He said that people are surprised by his success and that is why they are talking about him. Rahane said, “They did not expect Ajinkya Rahane to perform so well. So I am happy that people are talking about me, whether positive or negative,” Rahane said.

However, statistics show that Rahane’s strike rate against spinners drops to 131.11 in the powerplay, while in the middle overs (7 to 15) it further drops to 114.02. Nevertheless, Rahane clearly said that he is not much affected by the criticism and will continue his game.