Kolkata Knight Riders are almost out of the playoff race after suffering a 9-wicket defeat at the hands of Rajasthan Royals on Thursday. Kolkata have not been at their best in the past few seasons. They have previously lifted the title twice in 2012 and 2014, under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir. The franchise could not replicate the performance in the subsequent seasons.
Following another elimination this year, fans could not hold their frustration. Twitter got flooded with hilarious memes underlining Kolkata’s disappointing show in the latter phase of the tournament.
Meanwhile, the fans have been blaming skipper captain Nitish Rana for bowling the opening over when he had enough spinning options to send. One of the users felt that Rana’s bowling gave confidence to Rajasthan opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who eventually turned out to be the match-winner.
KKR fans shouldn't even think of blaming other bowlers even if they go for 10+ ER.The confidence Rana gave to Jaiswal ended our campaign.— Arka (@ARKA0432) May 11, 2023
Another fan believed the return of Kolkata’s designated captain Shreyas Iyer next season will “do wonders for the team.” The person further suggested the team management assign this season’s skipper Nitish Rana as the deputy of Iyer.
I firmly believe Shreyas as a captain and Rana as a vice captain will do wonders for kkr ,it's just a matter of time💜 pic.twitter.com/IAeck9UXTO— R💫 (@msd_shreyas_) May 11, 2023
A fan dropped a clip of a Bollywood movie to highlight the current situation of the Kolkata fans.
In a toxic relationship with @KKRiders #AmiKKR #KKR pic.twitter.com/pBQLIJ4Iem— dilseᴷⁿⁱᵍʰᵗᴿⁱᵈᵉʳ (@iemSRKian) May 11, 2023
A user shelled out a bizarre meme reference to demonstrate the current situation of the Kolkata supporters.
Condition of KKR fans.👇😂🤣@Asgardkiing #KKRvRR pic.twitter.com/cbfRvDeoLh— RoLeX SiR🚬 (@ROLEX_1_) May 11, 2023
Here are some other reactions:
KKR fans right now: pic.twitter.com/6NUMS66jd9— 𝓘𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓢𝓱𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓱𝓪 (@IshantShrestha) May 11, 2023
KKR Fans right now 🙂 pic.twitter.com/uzY53Legn8— Troll SRK Haterss (@TrollSRKHaterss) May 11, 2023
Being a KKR fan badly missing GG. He was the guy who changed KKR completely. pic.twitter.com/if9WcQ5557— Yash Godara🇮🇳 (@YashGodara69) May 12, 2023
KKR Fans - 😂 https://t.co/35UWwNzi1R pic.twitter.com/ykYVwct19k— ℤ𝕒𝕚𝕟_𝕊𝕒𝕚𝕗𝕚_(𝔅𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔨𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔱) (@Zain_Sid_Fan) May 11, 2023
Winning the toss at Eden Gardens, Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson sent the hosts to bat first. Kolkata could not pull off a desirable start as they lost both openers early in the innings. Then Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana tried to pull them out of the situation. Rana failed to survive longer, heading back to the pavilion for 22. Riding on Iyer’s 57-run knock and some little contributions from Andre Russel and Rinku Singh, Kolkata managed to produce a paltry 149 runs. From Rajasthan, Yuzvendra Chahal stole the show as the Indian spinner folded up with four wickets.
Stepping on to defend, Kolkata got rid of big man Jos Buttler in the second over. But Yashasvi Jaiswal appeared to be in the form of his life. The youngster went hard on the opposition bowlers and scripted history by smashing a half-century in just 13 deliveries. Jaiswal, who remained unbeaten at 98 runs, got perfect assistance from Samson. The captain concluded his innings at 48 runs with Rajasthan picking up a comfortable win.