Ajinkya Rahane shot back at those who have been questioning his strike rate in T20 cricket.

The Kolkata Knight Riders captain, who started off with a 40-ball 67 in his team’s season opener against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede, managed only 8 off 10 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden on Thursday.

Last Sunday, Rahane’s scoring rate had dipped a little bit after the Powerplay,
while on Wednesday, he couldn’t even manage a boundary. For Rahane, though, those who raise questions on his strike rate are simply “jealous” of him.

“In terms of my strike rate, I think I have one of the best strike rates so far since 2020. People talking about me are probably not watching the game, or they have a certain agenda against me. They don’t like me playing,” the Knight Riders skipper retorted at the post-match news conference.

“They don’t like to watch me play. The amount of success which I’ve got, I guess they are jealous of me. So yeah, I am not too worried.”

Just one bad innings doesn’t ruin all the hard work that he has put in, Rahane pointed out. “You guys know what I’m doing. It’s just one bad innings. My intent was quite good. Sometimes, as a batter, you don’t get that rhythm. You don’t get that flow.

“But as for people who are talking, they don’t understand the game, and I think they want me to play a different kind of innings. Basically, they didn’t expect that Ajinkya Rahane will improve his game this much.

“So, I am happy they are talking about me, negative or positive, either way.”

Rahane, however, had no complaints regarding the Eden pitch on offer.