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After another disappointing Indian Premier League season (IPL), the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team management is expected to take some significant steps ahead of the IPL 2027 season.
KKR finished their IPL 2026 campaign as the 7th in the 10-team league with 13 points from 14 games. In their final match of the season, the former champions suffered their seventh defeat against the Delhi Capitals at the Eden Gardens on May 24.
KKR management is likely to make some shuffles
As soon as KKR concluded their last-ever match in the season, there were a lot of speculations over the future of Ajinkya Rahane. Ajinkya Rahane, the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders, who was appointed as the leader of the team, replacing Shreyas Iyer, could lose his spot in the team.
There have been constant criticisms of his batting style throughout the season. In the IPL 2026 season, multiple openers have been performing with around 200.00 strike rate, while Ajinkya Rahane’s average strike rate in the season was 135.08.
There are strong beliefs that the skipper and opener’s underwhelming form is one of the reasons behind the team’s inconsistent performance. The 37-year-old top-order batter finished his IPL 2026 journey, scoring 335 runs in 14 innings with a batting average of 25.76 and a strike rate of 135.08. In those 14 innings and as many matches, the opener registered a couple of half-centuries only.
Abhishek Nayar is also under the scanner
According to local media reports, head coach Abhishek Nayar’s performance is also under the scanner. Nayar shares a very close bond with the KKR team management. Before being appointed as the head coach of the team, he served the Purple Brigade as a coaching staff member and as the head of their academy.
Abhishek Nayar has built a reputation for good management. His strong relationship with the Indian cricket team star Rohit Sharma is also not unknown to the cricket fraternity. When Kolkata Knight Riders appointed him as the head coach of the team ahead of the IPL 2026 season, in place of experienced Chandrakant Pandit, it showed the sheer amount of trust the management had in Nayar.
Ajinkya Rahane can be sacked; the final decision on Nayar is expected to come as well
However, the situation changed drastically as the team failed to perform. KKR went winless in their first six fixtures of the IPL 2026 season, including 5 defeats and one washout match. Because of the early setback, the team mostly remained in the bottom half of the points table.
From the mid-phase of the tournament, the team showed its fighting spirit and made a strong comeback. However, despite making a strong comeback, it proved insufficient for booking a spot in the play-offs. As soon as the Rajasthan Royals claimed their win against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, KKR’s exit from the title race was confirmed.
According to the Bengali daily newspaper Sangbad Pratidin, the team management is set to submit a report card to the top officials of the franchise. Ajinkya Rahane and Abhishek Nayar’s performances are expected to be scrutinized heavily.
Read More: "Proud of everyone": Ajinkya Rahane lauds entire KKR team despite disappointing end of IPL 2026
