IPL 2025 | KKR facing same failures as seen throughout this IPL, says Eoin Morgan

Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders have struggled with batting issues throughout this IPL season and the changes made for the home game against Gujarat Titans on April 21 were not effective, feels former captain Eoin Morgan.

Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders have struggled with batting issues throughout this IPL season and the changes made for the home game against Gujarat Titans were not effective, feels former captain Eoin Morgan.

KKR's loss to Gujarat Titans by 39 runs here on Monday (April 21, 2025) was their second consecutive defeat in the tournament, third in the last five matches and overall fifth in eight games.

It has also been a season of struggle at home for the three-time champions who have also lost three of the four matches at the Eden Gardens.

"Kolkata Knight Riders has simply not bounced back as well as we would have liked them to. It's always a good sign for a strong team with a lot of character around, but they had the same failures that they’ve shown throughout the tournament,” said JioStar expert Morgan.

"They made a couple of changes (against GT), mainly to try and gain some impetus in their batting line-up, and it didn't necessarily come off. Were the changes worth it? They'll sit back and say no." Morgan said KKR failed to forge partnerships in chase of 199 as they finished at an ordinary 159 for eight.

"It was interesting to hear Ajinkya Rahane talk about 199 being a chaseable score because towards the back end of Gujarat Titans' innings, we thought the ball held up more than we expected (and) that made finding boundaries harder," he said.

Morgan added, "But there was no rhythm, no substantial partnerships — almost the polar opposite of what Gujarat Titans displayed." Morgan was all praise for India and GT pacer Prasidh Krishna who delivered another vital spell of 4-0-25-2.