Delhi: The journey of Defending Champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 ended in the league stage itself. On this, former Australian captain Aaron Finch said that KKR should hold himself responsible for it. He said that there was a lack of continuous performance in the team, while the team retained its core group of the previous season.

Kolkata had to reach a do or die position after defeat to Chennai Super Kings (CSK). It was necessary to win the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on 17 May. However, the match was canceled due to rain without throwing a single ball. With this, KKR’s dream of saving the title broke.

Finch explained the reason for KKR’s poor performance

The former KKR captain said at the match center live show of Ziohosar that Kolkata’s start was poor. He also pointed to a big mistake of the team. He said that match winners like Andre Russell were not given the right opportunities.

He said, “Andre Russell has been a player to win the match for a long time. But this time he was sent very down in the batting. In such a situation he could not leave his impact. He did not get the opportunity where he can change the attitude of the match. The team should blame himself.”

Finch also mentioned the defeat against Chennai. He said that the match was in the grip of KKR, but he himself lost it. “They had almost won the match against Chennai. But, at the last moment he slipped. There came many occasions throughout the season when Kolkata’s team could not play unitedly.”

Kolkata’s last match is now to be held against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Delhi on 25 May. The team currently has 12 points in 13 matches. Now KKR will try to end this season with victory.