Sanjay Manjrekar, a former Indian cricketer, has slammed KL Rahul for his slow knock for the Delhi Capitals (DC) in their recent defeat to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2026 in Delhi on May 6.
DC, opting to bat first, put on a poor batting show, with Rahul scoring 12 off 13 balls and the top order crumbling to leave the team at 69/5. Sameer Rizvi made 40* and Tristan Stubbs made 38 to rescue the team and took them to 155/7 in 20 overs.
In response, Sanju Samson made 87* and Kartik Sharma made 41* as CSK won the game by 8 wickets.
The DC star was dismissed in the first ball of the sixth after scoring 12 from 12 balls in five overs. Rahul attempted to go inside out over cover after receiving a tossed-up ball from Akeal Hosein, but he ultimately sliced it in the air so Ruturaj Gaikwad could make a straightforward catch.
"It’s almost like odd and even games, where sometimes he goes after the bowling straightaway, which is the KL Rahul you want. But then he feels like he has earned the right and becomes responsible for the rest of the batters to come, and then plays an innings like that. Once you get out after getting to 12 off 12, you've signed the death warrant for your team. After those insipid first six overs, DC were done for the game,” Manjrekar said on Instagram.
"KL Rahul, after playing a brilliant innings in the previous match, got 12 off 12 balls in the first six overs. That’s two overs at a strike rate of 100. When you have openers going at 200, you can’t have an opener scoring 12 off 12 in the hope that he’ll explode later," he added.
Rahul has been in good form in the IPL 2026, with 445 runs in 10 games at an average of 49.44 and has also been striking at 180.89. He has made three fifties and one century this season thus far.
