While ajinkya rahane

Kolkata Knight Riders: Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) bowling coach Bharat Arun has thrown his weight behind Andre Russell, backing the star all-rounder to bounce back in their crucial Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash against Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday. After an underwhelming performance in their season opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Russell is keen to make a statement in their second match in Guwahati.

KKR endured a tough start to their campaign, losing to RCB by seven wickets. While Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, and Sunil Narine contributed with the bat, their middle order failed to fire. Russell managed just four runs, while Venkatesh Iyer also fell cheaply, exposing a weak link that cost them the match. However, Arun believes Russell’s failure was just a minor blip.

“Sport is about failing. You fail more often than you succeed. Champions like Russell, I think, must be weighing on his mind that he failed the last game, and he is out to prove himself every single game. We are also hoping he will come good in tomorrow's game,” Arun said in the pre-match press conference.