Watch: Mohammed Siraj dismisses Ajinkya Rahane for golden duck during GT vs KKR clash in IPL 2026

Having not been able to open their account even after five clashes of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, the pressure was massive on the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who had to put up a better performance to get back on track during their meeting with the Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. 

The visiting captain, Ajinkya Rahane, won the toss and decided to bat first on a surface that looked good. However, GT was happy with them bowling first, expecting the dew to arrive later in the game. The three-time champions handed a debut cap to Tim Seifert in place of struggling Finn Allen. 

Ajinkya Rahane returns for golden duck in IPL 2026 vs GT

Seifert, after seeing off the first delivery against Mohammed Siraj, hammered the second delivery for a boundary. It was short and wide of the off stump as the right-handed batter stood on his crease and slapped it through the covers for a fantastic shot.

But the celebrations didn’t last long for the Knight Riders, who saw their captain getting back into the hut for a golden duck. The powerplay hasn’t been an issue for Rahane, who used the first six overs beautifully to punish the bowlers and get back to a commendable score in the period.

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But on his very first ball, Rahane decided to heave across the line. The ball swung away slightly and took the edge of the blade. The Mumbai-born miscued it in the air as the ball went high towards the long-on, who completed a simple catch to draw first blood. That was the second dismissal for the veteran against Siraj in T20s at a strike rate of only 63.15.

Kolkata continued their struggle with the bat. It was strange for them not to send Sunil Narine as the opener despite going down that route in the previous encounters.

KKR continues poor start in IPL 2026

Seifert has done well in a short period. After the opening boundary of the evening, he picked the short ball from Kagiso Rabada early and pulled it over the deep mid-wicket region for a towering six. At number three, Angkrish Raghuvanshi arrived in the middle.

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He opened his account with a second-ball boundary, cutting towards the backward point region. The youngster threw the kitchen sink at the pitched-up delivery against Rabada for another boundary. But a beautiful outswinger found his outside edge into the hands of the wicket-keeper.

Brief Scores (at the time of writing)- KKR- 37/3 (Tim Seifert 19, Kagiso Rabada 2/20) vs GT.

Fans react to Rahane’s golden duck in IPL 2026

Here is how the fans have reacted to Rahane being dismissed for a golden duck in the IPL 2026-