Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are at the second spot on the IPL 2023 points table despite losing their last match to Punjab Kings (PBKS) on April 15 by 2 wickets in a last-ball finish. KL Rahul, the LSG captain stood tall as he scored 74 runs in 55 balls.
Sam Curran, who captained the PBKS side in absence of Shikhar Dhawan, won the toss and chose to bowl first. Rahul’s 74 was the only innings of note, while the second-best scorer was Kyle Mayers with 29, as LSG posted 159/8 in 20 overs. Curran led from the front picking 3/31, while Kagiso Rabada took 2 wickets.
In response, debutant Yudhvir Singh removed both the PBKS openers for single-digit scores and then Sikandar Raza with 57 and Matthew Short with 34 stabilized the innings somewhat. In the end, it was a brilliant 23* knock from Shahrukh Khan which took PBKS past the finishing line in the end.
After the match, LSG fielding coach Jonty Rhodes talked about KL Rahul’s batting and whether the responsibility of captaincy has affected his freedom to play shots. Rahul has been slammed for his poor strike rate with the bat despite opening the innings.
But Rhodes said that KL Rahul has never been "plagued" by captaincy.
"The captain is someone who likes to lead from the front. He has always been a successful, dominating batter in all the IPLs. Captaincy isn't something that's ever plagued him. Many great batters when given captaincy don't quite handle it. He's led from the front and I think it's great to see that," Rhodes said at the post-match conference.
"When the captain is scoring runs, the way that he plays he lays a really good platform for others to play around them. We always knew that he was just one knock away. He's been batting in the nets superbly. He's not the kind of player anybody worries about because we always know it's literally one innings away,” he added.
The South African legend, however, admitted that the skipper could have perhaps batted till the end since he was the set batter in the middle.
“I think he himself will be satisfied with the way the knock turned out today but possibly could’ve batted deeper,” Rhodes added.
(PTI inputs)
