Ajinkya Rahane's decision to bat on winning the toss at Eden Gardens on Monday evening was enough to trigger a debate. Had the match gone the distance would Kolkata Knight Riders have been able to put up a convincing total?

Rahane was well aware that their match against Punjab Kings would be affected by rain. Even as he walked out for the toss, a dark cloud cover enveloped the stadium along with gusts of wind.

The choice of the playing XI wasn't ideal and the team felt the perils of taking first strike within the first couple of overs. The decision had raised quite a few eyebrows and did haunt the Knights going by the way their innings unfolded.

Cricketing wisdom suggests that it’s better to chase in a rain-shortened match since it allows the team to plan their innings. It was not just about the rain forecast, the wicket too had a fair covering of grass and the Knights had an already depleted bowling attack at their disposal.

Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer said he wanted to bowl and he got what he wanted. He knew the conditions would help his bowlers as was evident in the manner in which Arshdeep Singh and Xavier Bartlett got the ball to swing. Rarely have pacers extracted so much lateral movement in an evening contest in Indian conditions.

Rahane’s decision even surprised Ravichandran Ashwin. “When you know it’s going to be a rain affected game, with an inexperienced bowling attack at your disposal, you choose to bat first.
Interesting thought process” the former India spinner wrote on X.

Finn Allen struggled and poked at Xavier’s first three balls before edging the fourth to the wicketkeeper. Cameron Green too didn’t find his
footing. In ideal conditions for the pacers, KKR certainly erred in their judgement and it was evident in the 3.4 overs bowled on Monday.

The Knights were saved of another embarrassment since a resumption at 11.14pm would have been disastrous for them.

Some of Rahane and the team management’s decisions in IPL 2026 are not above criticism. Their batting order has already failed to instil confidence while the choice to bat on Monday will add to this catastrophic list.

Shah Rukh Khan’s presence though brought a slice of luck to the team as they opened their tally on the points table. That was the only silver lining the Knights savoured from this game.