KKR coach Chandrakant Pandit expects players to remain focused amid MS Dhoni craze

Kolkata Knight Riders have won five out of 11 matches so far in the IPL 2025 and are sixth on the points table. As things stand, all their matches are currently do-or-die affairs as a single defeat can ruin their chances of qualifying for the playoffs. Next up, the Ajinkya Rahane-led side will face Chennai Super Kings on May 7 at the iconic Eden Gardens. 

Usually, a large section of the crowd dons yellow every time Dhoni plays in Kolkata. The same can be said about other grounds as well. However, KKR head coach Chandrakant Pandit believes that the craze about Dhoni won’t bother his players, as he believes that they will be focused and ignore the noise.

“I think during these kinds of games, every player and every team is always focused on their own game. I mean, that’s sometimes like, if a batter is batting and there is so much noise around and if you ask that batter, probably he will say that ‘I didn’t hear anything about it,” Pandit said in the pre-match conference. 

“It was the same case with me when people used to tell me so much noise around, and how you can focus. But sometimes we just ignore that noise automatically. So, obviously, when you are focused on the game, it does not matter so much if you ask me,” he added.

Pandit also mentioned that the team isn’t feeling the pressure ahead of the business end of the tournament. He also addressed that the batting line-up hasn’t clicked this season but expects them to step up in the next three league matches.

“Not really (feeling the pressure). I don’t want to go back. We always believe that we have the best batting lineup, it unfortunately didn’t click. Hope it will do justice in the next three games. We know the ability of every individual player. We believe in them. To maintain that, you have to give them a lot of confidence, make sure they believe in themselves,” said Pandit.