Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has been officially knocked out of the ongoing IPL 2025 after the game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) was washed out due to rain. As soon as the RCB vs. KKR match was abandoned, the defending champion left no hope for playoff qualification.

KKR is now under preparation for their final encounter of the season, which is scheduled to be on May 25 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Like KKR, SRH is also now out of the quest for a spot in the top four. The upcoming contest, SRH vs. KKR, will be a clash to save pride.

Multi-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders is likely to push all of their assets to end the campaign on a high note. Before the game, one of the experienced candidates of the Purple Brigade, Manish Pandey, revealed why their team struggled so much from the beginning of this IPL edition.

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Pandey pointed out the differences 

The representative of the side said, "The atmosphere (in the dressing room) has been great throughout. To answer your question about what's different from last year, we won games back-to-back in 2024. This year, we won one and then lost one—that's been the pattern. But I hope we can end on a high (vs. SRH in New Delhi) and then continue to have the same core for the seasons to come, while being able to win more games on the trot." 

Not only in terms of on-field results, KKR team management has been under constant observation to confirm a solid playing XI despite being able to retain most players from last year's successful campaign. Kolkata Knight Riders is currently standing at the 6th spot of the points table with 12 points after playing 13 games, with an opportunity to add two more points to justify their name.