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Former Chennai Super Kings batter S Badrinath has raised serious concerns about Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of IPL 2026, calling captain Ajinkya Rahane a ‘weak link’ in the setup.With less than 10 days remaining for KKR’s opening clash against Mumbai Indians, Badrinath questioned both the team’s leadership and their squad decisions, especially in light of multiple injury setbacks.“Ajinkya Rahane is definitely a weakness. His captaincy itself is a weak link. All their big investments have gone wrong. They trusted Harshit Rana and invested in him, but he is ruled out. Pathirana was a huge signing, and now he’s doubtful. Mustafizur was another big investment, and he is ruled out. They’ve taken many costly decisions as there is uncertainty over most of their big investments,” Badrinath said on his YouTube channel.He also took aim at KKR’s big-money signing of Cameron Green, who was acquired for a record Rs 25.20 crore. Badrinath questioned the logic behind the move, pointing to the all-rounder’s recent struggles at the international level.“You’ve signed him for Rs 25.20 crore, and he is woefully out of form. He struggled massively for Australia in the T20 World Cup. Cameron Green went for so much purely because of the hype. He is not worth that much. Has he singlehandedly done anything in the IPL? Australian players always get hyped up, and he benefited from that. I believe it was a bad move by KKR,” he added.Despite the criticism, Rahane had a solid campaign last season, finishing as KKR’s highest run-scorer with 390 runs in 13 matches at an average of 35.45 and a strike rate of 147.73.KKR will kick off their IPL 2026 campaign against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday, March 29, with pressure already mounting on the three-time champions to deliver.
