Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have themselves to blame for the winless start to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 campaign. Five games, zero wins and a solitary point — thanks to a washed-out contest — see the Knight Riders placed at the bottom of the 10-team points table in the T20 league. For former India cricketer, KKR’s crux of the problem lies in the team’s auction strategy, especially as their decision not to retain West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell to retire from IPL. The management then went on to buy Australia’s Cameron Green in the auction for a record-breaking fee of INR 25.20 crore.
Green, however, has barely been used as a bowler by the Knight Riders. The tall Australian has only bowled two 2-over spells this campaign, picking up one wicket. For Kaif, a retired Russell still remains a better all-rounder than Green, whose price tag has seen the franchise receive plenty of flak.
“Probably the biggest mistake KKR made this season was to make Andre Russell the coach and not use him as an all-rounder. The ploy of keeping him in the KKR dugout and not letting other franchises buy him at auction hasn’t worked. Isn’t he still a better all-rounder than the Rs 25 cr Cameron Green? The answer is obvious,” Kaif wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
As the Chennai Super Kings secured a commanding 32-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai, skipper Ajinkya Rahane didn’t mind throwing the team’s batting unit under the bus.
“I thought with the ball, we were treated really well. 190 on this wicket was really good, especially the power play, what they got, 70-odd runs. After that, pulling back to 190 was an amazing job from our bowling unit. I thought initially that with our batting, we just got 36 or 37 runs in the power play. I thought that was really important. In the middle phase, hitting spinners was slightly challenging, but apart from that, the wicket was really good. We needed one batter to bat until deep and then take it in the end,” Rahane said after the match.
