Dugout News : Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkatta Knight Riders

With success, KKR is in 7th place on the IPL 2022 points table with 8 points from 10 points. However, some notable highlights and moments during the match raised many eyebrows. Let's have a look at them.

Rajasthan Royals are holding back Shimron Hetmyer in the batting order.

On Monday, Kolkata Knight Riders put brakes on their five-match losing streak with a seven-wicket win against Rajasthan Royals. On losing the toss, RR was asked to bat first Jos Buttler opened the innings with Devdutt Padikkal, who got dismissed early after making 22 and 2 runs. Skipper Sanju Samson came at number 3 but failed to make an impact after the loss of openers early. What intrigued viewers and fans was despite having a power-hitter in the form of Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag was called ahead of Hetmyer. Shimron came to bat in 18th overs and blazed 27 off 13 balls to cruise the total to 152/5. The team failed to utilize such a crucial resource when the team needed him the most. 

Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar reckoned with the decision and said, "People get these labels. 'Finisher'. It means you have to come only on the 14th or 15th over, that's not right. The man is in form; even if a wicket falls in the 11th over, get him out there."

Sanju Samson's controversial DRS call!

Rajasthan's captain Sanju Samson looked quite upset with the umpire over a wide call. Samson opted for a DRS even when the ball was way away from the bat. How Samson took the review showed that he was not happy, and it was an act to protest against the umpire's call of a wide. He also went up to the umpire and had a long conversation with him where it seemed he was getting a clarification over the wide call. 

"He was mocking the umpire, I don't think there was any thought of it actually being out," said Vettori on ESPNCricinfo.

It happened in the penultimate over of the match when Prasidh Krishna was bowling. He planned to keep the ball away from the batter and take the leg-side out of the equation. Nitish Rana, shuffling in his crease, tried to put the bowler off; consequently, the bowl went below the wide line; however, the batsman had shuffled a lot, and the bowl passed alongside his bat. The umpire signaled a wide bowl, which started the controversy.

Rinku-Rana's partnership sailed KKR over a great victory.

Chasing 153, KKR were in a spot of bother, but Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, and Shreyas Iyer ensured they conquered victory over the Royals. Shreyas Iyer and Nitish Rana had added 60 for the third wicket before Rinku Singh joined Rana and played a superb knock as KKR finally won after a string of defeats this season. It was only his third match of the season for Rinku Singh, but Rinku Singh had already made a strong impact. He scored 35 against Gujarat Titans and 23 during another exemplary partnership with Nitish Rana against Delhi Capitals. While KKR lost those two games, Rinku's unbroken 66-run stand with Rana helped KKR secure a significant victory on Monday.

While Nitish Rana held the innings together, Rinku Singh came out all guns blazing. He hit Yuzvendra Chahal for two boundaries in the 18th over to bring the equation down to 18 off two overs for KKR. It was a breeze for the Knight Riders after that. Rana sealed the game with a six-off Kuldeep Sen off the first ball of the 20th over.

Ventakesh Iyer- Varun Chakravarthy out of the playing eleven; many disappointed

Before the mega auction, all the teams were allowed to retain four players. KKR chose Venkatesh Iyer and Varun Chakravarthy as the two retentions out of four. Despite being retained players, Iyer and Chakravarthy were not in the playing eleven, which has raised questions about the team management. Iyer has not stood up to expectations in the ongoing edition of the tournament. He has scored 132 runs in nine games with a poor strike rate of 97.7 and an average of 16.5. However, the opening batter failed to justify the team's expectations this season. Chakravarthy has clinched just four wickets in 8 matches with an economy of 8.8. Considering the two players were retained choices of the franchise, it is strange to see them on the bench. 

"There will always be a debate regarding selection. But if you start dropping players of the Indian team after just a handful of matches then you will set a very bad precedent for Indian cricket," reckoned ex-India star Ajay Jadeja. 

Although KKR has won the match, it is an uphill task for the team to qualify for the playoffs, whereas RR is in a good position in the tournament and is a qualifier as they are in the top four.