KL Rahul was overlooked by the Indian selectors in the 15-member squad picked for the upcoming T20 World Cup last week.
Leading the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) after his India snub in Match 53 of the IPL 2024 season, Rahul endured a failure both as batter and captain.
While LSG suffered a crushing 98-run defeat at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, Rahul managed to score 25 off 21 balls in the chase of 236.
After the game, former Australian pacer Brett Lee questioned the batting intent of Lucknow skipper.
"I think if you look at both opening batters from both sides, it's a complete contrast. KKR have got it right. They're out of the blocks quickly, they're scoring runs. And then you got KL Rahul on the other side, that's, you know, getting a run a ball and putting a lot of pressure on the back end. You know, we saw four games and I picked KL Rahul here, the first four games he played. His strike rate was 129, then he went to 150 and now he's come back and said, 'well, yeah, you know the bowlers have done a great job. I think there's a lot of pressure on him because he hasn't scored the runs he should be," Lee told Jio Cinema.
KL Rahul was upstaged by Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant for the wicketkeeper's slots in Indi’s T20 World Cup squad. Rahul has amassed 431 runs in 11 IPL innings this season. He has scored those runs at a strike rate of 141.31.
"KL's a terrific player, we all know that. The thing is we were looking for is guys who bat at the middle and KL bats at the top. We feel Sanju has the ability to come down the order. Rishabh is batting at 5, that was more the thinking. Two incredible players as well," BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar said in a press conference after the T20 World Cup squad was picked.
Coming to the match, KKR piled up a mammoth 235/6 on the board after being asked to bat first. Sunil Narine was the top scorer with 81 off 39 balls while Philip Salt (32), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (32), Ramandeep Singh (25*) made vital contributions.
In reply, LSG’s innings folded for a paltry 137 in 16.1 overs. It was a listless performance with the bat as no one managed to touch the 40-run mark. Marcus Stoinis was the top scorer with 21-ball 36.
