IPL 2018: Ajinkya Rahane takes blame for defeat to KKR

Jaipur, April 19 (CRICKETNMORE):  Rajasthan Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane blamed himself for his team's seven-wicket defeat at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) game on Wednesday night.

"I feel it was a different wicket from what we played on against Delhi Daredevils. It was slow and ball was also keeping low. I feel it was my responsibility to take that innings forward," Rahane told reporters after the game here at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

"It is hard to recover from slow start because T20 is all about one or two big overs. I was batting well and wanted to continue till the 14th or 15th over," the India Test vice-captain added.

Rahane scored a 19-ball 36 and was looking good for a big one after being put in to bat by rival skipper Dinesh Karthik. But he lost his wicket to a Nitish Rana delivery in which Karthik pulled off a brilliant stumping.

Asked if his bowlers should be blamed for failing to defend a modest target of 161, Rahane said,"Not really, our bowlers have done a good job in all three matches. In T20 sometimes you go for runs but we have a good combination. When you lose people start talking about bad bowling or batting," he said, adding that the fielding was not up to the mark and there was scope for much improvement.

Rajasthan will next take on Chennai Super Kings on Friday.