Second consecutive duck for Ajinkya Rahane in IPL 2026; KKR captain leads unwanted list involving Gautam Gambhir

Ajinkya Rahane's second consecutive duck in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) made him the leader of an unwanted list of most duck as an opener in the history of the tournament. After his first-ball duck against Gujarat Titans, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain edged a wide delivery off Rajasthan Royals pacer Nandre Burger on Sunday.

In the process, Rahane now has 12 scores of zero in IPL, the most by any opening batter in the league. Below Rahane are former India cricketers Parthiv Patel (11), Shikhar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir (both 10). Australian David Warner is fifth on the list with nine ducks in IPL.

Notably, Rahane became the second KKR captain after Gautam Gambhir to be dismissed for consecutive ducks in IPL. Gambhir, who is currently the head coach of the Indian national team, had scored three in 2014.

How Ajinkya Rahane fared in IPL 2026?

Rahane started his IPL 2026 campaign on a bright note with a 40-ball 67 against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium. However, since then nothing have gone right for the KKR skipper registered four single digit scores in seven matches so far. His 24-ball 41 against Lucknow Super Giants was his second-best in this season.

This was also the second time both the KKR openers were dismissed for ducks in an IPL game. Before Rahane, Tim Seifert was dismissed by Jofra Archer on the first ball of the second innings. Previously, Gambhir and Jacques Kallis were out for ducks against Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in the 2014 edition in Dubai.

Varun Chakaravarthy returns with a bang

Earlier, Varun Chakaravarthy returned to his best, showing perfect chemistry with veteran Sunil Narine as KKR's spin twins dismantled Rajasthan Royals snaring five wickets between them to restrict them to a below-par 155/9.

Rahane appeared overly defensive with his approach, delaying the introduction of spin as the Rajasthan openers -- Yashasvi Jaiswal and young Vaibhav Sooryavanshi -- raced to 63/0, clocking at over 10 an over against the innocuous KKR pace attack.

Chakravarthy drew the first blood with his fourth delivery, reaching his landmark 200th T20 wicket after Suryavanshi's slog sweep lacked power and was taken by a well-judged Ramandeep Singh at deep midwicket.

Varun Chakaravarthy returns with a bang

Earlier, Varun Chakravarthy returned to his best, showing perfect chemistry with veteran Sunil Narine as KKR's spin twins dismantled Rajasthan Royals snaring five wickets between them to restrict them to a below-par 155/9.

Rahane appeared overly defensive with his approach, delaying the introduction of spin as the Rajasthan openers -- Yashasvi Jaiswal and young Vaibhav Sooryavanshi -- raced to 63/0, clocking at over 10 an over against the innocuous KKR pace attack.

Chakravarthy drew the first blood with his fourth delivery, reaching his landmark 200th T20 wicket after Suryavanshi's slog sweep lacked power and was taken by a well-judged Ramandeep Singh at deep midwicket.

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That dismissal triggered a collapse as RR, cruising at nearly 10 runs per over at the halfway stage, slipped to 118/4 in 15 overs, with the run rate dropping below eight. They lost Suryavanshi (46), Dhruv Jurel (5), Jaiswal (39) and skipper Riyan Parag (12) in quick succession against the run of play.

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