Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) skipper Ajinkya Rahane took full responsibility following his team’s stunning 16-run defeat to Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Match 31 of IPL 2025 at Mullanpur. The batting side failed to salvage the game after reaching 62 for 2 but ended as 95 all out in their pursuit of 112 against Punjab Kings. This unexpected team failure stunned spectators during what seemed like an effortlessly simple pursuit and went down as one of the season's most shocking losses.

The responsibility for the defeat belongs to me, Rahane expressed during the post-game conference. Our team controlled the match well based on our good start, but our batting group should have brought the contest to closure. Punjab Cricket delivered an excellent bowling performance, yet KKR failed to recover from their mistake in this match. Rahane provided an honest declaration about KKR's team frustrations because no other team outside Bengaluru has, for that matter, shown constant poor performance.

KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane speaks out on their unexpected and shocking loss against PBKS 👀🗣️#IPL2025 #PBKSvKKR #AjinkyaRahane #Sportskeeda pic.twitter.com/oFGN3Zx4ZF

— Sportskeeda (@Sportskeeda) April 16, 2025

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Middle-Order Collapse and Tactical Missteps Cost KKR

The batsmen from KKR faced difficulty while Yuzvendra Chahal delivered 4 wickets for 28 runs to completely change the match's direction. During their collapse, Rahane expressed the opinion that both mental and strategic aspects of the team unraveled. “It’s disappointing. The team has shown good play throughout the tournament yet needs better composure when challenges arise in matches. The batting order needed a successful connection between batters because it would have produced different results, according to the KKR captain.

The latest defeat left KKR with four games lost out of their seven contests, while the team fell in rankings on the points table. Rahane expressed confidence because he wanted the team to stay focused and united for the upcoming games. “It’s a long tournament. According to him, they possess ample time to bounce back, and their team maintains complete belief in its capability.