ike a restored Swiss watch, Chennai Super Kings ticked, getting the timing right again at Chepauk as it clinched a second straight win, beating Kolkata Knight Riders by 32 runs in IPL 2026 here on Tuesday.

Defending 192 under lights, CSK applied the classic Chepauk spin-choke. KKR was made to work for every boundary, with the asking rate nudging up incrementally until the chase slipped out of reach.

Like a metronome finding its beat after a stutter, Noor Ahmad’s rhythm returned, and with it, the steady ticking of wickets. He struck twice in two balls — Ajinkya Rahane (28) miscuing a googly to hole out, and Cameron Green (nought) having his stumps rattled. Later, he dangled a carrot outside off, luring Rinku Singh (six) into a catch at long-on to finish with three for 21.

Kolkata Knight Riders’ captan Ajinkya Rahane was on Sunday (March 29, 2026) forced to leave the field seemingly after suffering cramps in the second half of their Indian Premier League clash in Mumbai against Mumbai Indians.

In Rahane’s absence, India all-rounder Rinku Singh who was named the vice-captain before the IPL 2026 began, took over the captaincy role.

Rahane was down on the field after the completion of the fourth over in MI’s chase of 221 and despite receiving some treatment from the team physiotherapist, the 37-year-old could not continue.

After lying down for a few minutes, the KKR skipper was helped by his teammates to get up and for a short while even had his hands on shoulders of two others to get off the field. However, Rahane eventually walked off himself but with a limp. However it is still not clear whether it is simple cramps or a case of injury to calf muscle or hamstring.

Opening the innings for KKR earlier in the game, Rahane spent more than an hour in the middle building the innings for KKR with a fine knock of 67 off 40 balls, studded with five sixes and three fours. He was dismissed in the 14th over by his Mumbai teammate Shardul Thakur.

Despite overhauling their squad after a disappointing title defence in 2025, Kolkata Knight Riders have retained faith in skipper Ajinkya Rahane, who said on Friday (March 20, 2026) he is embracing the responsibility with calmness and positivity.

Rahane, who topped KKR’s scoring charts last season with 390 runs, could not prevent the team from finishing eighth with just five wins in 14 matches (two abandoned).

But the veteran insisted that pressure is nothing new, and he is focused on approaching challenges with the right mindset.

“Every year, there are different challenges as a player and also as a captain. What I learned throughout my journey is be positive each and every time, whatever challenges are there,” the 37-year-old said during KKR’s first media interaction of the season.

“I’ve been leading the team since last year and really grateful to the franchise that they gave me this responsibility to lead the team. Taking everything in my stride, taking everything in a positive way. There are always opportunities, there are challenges, you always see opportunities.

“My mindset has always been like that throughout my career, that if I see any challenges or particular, if something difficult is, I look at it in a positive way and try to give my best as a player and also as a captain,” he added.

After last season’s underwhelming finish, Rahane said it’s important to start strong while maintaining consistency through the long tournament.

“As a team, we would like to start really well this season,” he said.

“It’s a long tournament and you don’t want to peak too early. As a team, and also the expectations from the boys, basically, you don’t actually looking for a perfect game. There are going to be errors throughout the tournament.

“But as a unit, what we would like to do is we play positive brand of cricket. So as a unit, as a team management, we are really confident about the side that will do really well this season.” KKR head into IPL 2026 with a revamped batting unit after releasing stalwarts Andre Russell and Venkatesh Iyer, and splurging big at the auction, including a record Rs 25.20 crore for Cameron Green.

The squad now boasts explosive options like Finn Allen and Tim Seifert, alongside Sunil Narine and Rahane himself at the top of the order.

Despite the abundance of choices, Rahane remained tight-lipped about the batting order and combinations.

“The batting group which we have this year is amazing. I mean, most of the batters, they’re in good form. Guys from overseas also in good, very good nick. Had a very good World Cup as well.

“See, frankly, I’m not going to tell you the lineup, what lineup we are going to go with, but as I said, all the batters who are here at the moment are very good in nick, very good in nick, and we just started our camp with this before, so really excited for the season,” he said.