Kolkata Knight Riders paid the price for not pulling off close contests

Half-way through the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015, one would have tipped Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals to make it through to the playoffs. After all, Rajasthan had won their first five games of the tournament and Kolkata built steadily as it progressed. Little did anyone imagine that their final league game would be a virtual knockout, sending one team out in all probability. Kolkata’s defeat to Rajasthan at the Brabourne Stadium and Bangalore's defeat of Delhi means Kolkata are out of IPL 8.

Kolkata have not had a bad season. On the contrary, they have been one of the most consistent teams through the season. It is only the open league table that did them in. The IPL 2015 has been the most open tournament in its history with three playoff spots up for grabs in the final weekend. KKR’s defeat to Mumbai Indians cost them dearly and they failed to bring their own in the crunch game. This is from a team that had a string of victories last year on their way to the title.

The only real weakling in the Kolkata line-up was their middle-order, which was a bit inconsistent. Manish Pandey and Suryakumar Yadav in particular had ordinary outings and it cost Kolkata as the top two had to soak in a lot of pressure. Also, Yusuf Pathan and Andre Russell were left with a lot to do on quite a few occasions. Especially Russell, who had to come to their rescue on more than an occasion. Had the middle order risen to the occasion, they would have overhauled the last two run-chases well.

In hindsight, a couple of defeats also cost them a spot. One’s mind would go back to the defeat to the Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk. Chasing a small total, Kolkata were well on course to victory with a rollicking start. However, they collapsed under the pressure applied by the Chennai spinners. Though Kolkata bounced back a couple of days later with a fantastic victory against the same opposition, the game in Chennai was one they should have done.

Having said that, Kolkata can still be proud of their effort as they had a good season. Most of their players did well and their spin department was perhaps the best in the tournament. But, this does show the importance of being clinical in such tight competitions. They could have made it through in a less tighter tournament.

(Nishad Pai Vaidya is a Correspondent with CricketCountry and anchor for the site’s YouTube Channel. His Twitter handle is @nishad_45. The above article was first published in CricketCountry)