Virat Kohli's fan bashes Gautam Gambhir's KKR; Mitchell McCleneghan jumps in support of..

Former New Zealand left-arm pacer and Indian Premier League winner with Mumbai Indians Mitchell McClenaghan has come in support Kolkata Knight Riders for their sluggish approach last night.

McClenaghan's remarks came after a fan tweeted about KKR's approach during their first loss of the season against Chennai Super Kings last night at the MA Chidambaram stadium last night.

With that loss, the 2-time champions are no longer the team with a 100% win record in the league with table toppers Rajasthan Royals, the only team in the league to have won all of their 4 league matches.

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Despite having one of the most dangerous and explosive batting line-ups in place, KKR wasn't able to decode and attack the CSK bowling unit.

The tragic downfall of the visiting batters started from the first over itself. Ruturaj Gaikwad had handed the ball over to Ravindra Jadeja, who provided an impact on the very first ball by claiming the wicket of English opener Phil Salt for a golden duck.

Then number 3 batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi partnered with Sunil Narine for a 56-run partnership before the former departed from the crease for 24 off 18.

Then as the innings proceeded, KKR did score runs but kept losing wickets at regular intervals. And the most shocking part was that none of the batters were able to even score 40 runs in the match.

It did not look as if it was the same side that posted a 270+ target in their previous league stage match against the Delhi Capitals.

The surface on which they played against CSK last night was a typical slow surface where the ball was holding up before meeting the bat and none of the batters, including skipper Shreyas Iyer, wanted to spend time and take their innings deeper.

McClenaghan defends KKR batters and their strategy to not play selfishly

Mitchell McClenaghan, who regularly shows up in Cricbuzz's post-match show in IPL 2024, actually replied to a fan's remarks about KKR batters not playing selfishly.

The fan had written that if anyone from the Knight Riders' batting order had played slowly and selfishly, then the team could have easily scored 160+. He also claimed that someone should have taken their time and scored 70 runs off 50 balls.

"KKR is full of big hitters and no one played for their milestone today. Still, I can't understand why they scored just 137 today. A selfish 70(50) might have taken KKR to 160+ btw." - the fan wrote.

To that, Mitchell McClenaghan replied by using a quote and hit back at the fan by saying that Kolkata's strategy has worked well so far and that there is no need to become selfish. "Sometimes you shoot for the stars and land on the moon. No biggie - their formula has worked so far no need to become selfish." - McClenghan replied on X.

Sometimes you shoot for the stars and land on the moon. No biggie - their formula has worked so far no need to become selfish h<!---->t<!---->t<!---->p<!---->s<!---->:<!---->/<!---->/<!---->t<!---->.<!---->c<!---->o<!---->/<!---->c<!---->f<!---->7<!---->b<!---->G<!---->c<!---->N<!---->u<!---->f<!---->v

— Mitchell McClenaghan (@Mitch_Savage) A<!---->p<!---->r<!---->i<!---->l<!----> <!---->8<!---->,<!----> <!---->2<!---->0<!---->2<!---->4

KKR to face LSG up next

Meanwhile, after suffering their first loss of the season last night, the Knight Riders have a gap of about 5 days until their next match against Lucknow Super Giants takes place on April 14th. KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir will be facing his former IPL side for the first time since leaving them for Kolkata last year.