Former India pacer Dodda Ganesh slammed Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain KL Rahul’s knock in the chase of the 213-run target set by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Bengaluru in the ongoing IPL 2023 and called it the most hideous knock in the history of IPL.
LSG was chasing a stiff target set by RCB and KL Rahul opened the innings and labored his way to 18 runs in 20 balls at a strike rate of 90. He was the only batter (with more than 10 balls) to have scored at a strike rate of less than 125 in the high-scoring fixture.
He also managed to hit just one boundary on a pitch that is known to him as he hails from Karnataka and has played a lot of cricket at the M Chinnaswamy stadium.
It was only due to half-centuries from Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran and some clever running by Ravi Bishnoi in the last over, and fumbles by Harshal Patel and Dinesh Karthik on the last ball, that LSG won the game by one wicket.
Pooran slammed 62 in 19 balls with 7 sixes, while Stoinis made 65 in 30 balls seeing which Ganesh dame down heavily on Rahul for his approach, terming his knock “the most hideous innings played in the history of IPL”.
"Not one shot withthe intent from KL Rahul in the PP while chasing 213. Don’t know what’s in his mind. You simply can’t bat like this. This innings from KL Rahul has to be the most hideous innings played in the history of IPL ever considering the context of the game. Man. What’s in his mind? Seriously. This can’t happen for so long at this level. It’s not school cricket," he tweeted.
The fact that Kyle Mayers and Krunal Pandya got out for ducks and Deepak Hooda made just 9, led to Rahul playing a defensive knock.
"If I score more runs, the strike-rate will go up. I looked at the situation and I feel I had done the right thing. Hopefully, with a couple of good knocks the strike rate will go up," Rahul said, following LSG's one-wicket win.
