Not just the fans but apparently former England skipper Kevin Pietersen also showed no mercy on KL Rahul after the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) skipper ended up playing a patient knock against Sanju Samson's Rajasthan Royals (RR) in match No.26 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Wednesday. There is no denying that Rahul's below-par strike rate has become a bone of contention in the 16th edition of the IPL.
The LSG skipper was called out by netizens for his sluggish knock against the 2008 champions on matchday 26 of the cash-rich league. Rahul, who allowed pace ace Trent Boult to kickstart the proceedings with a maiden over, only managed to score 19 off 19 balls at the end of the powerplay. Though Rahul made a forgetful start with the bat, the senior batter was the second-highest run-getter for Lucknow in the recently concluded encounter.
After Lucknow gunned down Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2023 on Wednesday, Rahul opened up about his batting struggles against the Boult-starrer bowling attack at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. “I got hit by one of the throws from my teammates, so clearly doing something wrong as captain. In the 10 over mark, the message me and Kyle sent out was 160 would be a good total on this track, they have some good bowlers as well who exploited the conditions. We fell 10 short but made up with the ball,” Rahul said after the match.
{{/usCountry}}After Lucknow gunned down Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2023 on Wednesday, Rahul opened up about his batting struggles against the Boult-starrer bowling attack at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. “I got hit by one of the throws from my teammates, so clearly doing something wrong as captain. In the 10 over mark, the message me and Kyle sent out was 160 would be a good total on this track, they have some good bowlers as well who exploited the conditions. We fell 10 short but made up with the ball,” Rahul said after the match.
{{/usCountry}}“And there was no dew so made it fair for both teams. We game in here yesterday and saw 180 would be a par score, but the first over from Boult, me and Kyle had a chat and realised this isn't a 180 wicket. The ball was keeping a bit low, so we gave ourselves time in the powerplay. Maybe if we played a bit better, we might have got 170 as well,” the LSG captain added.
Rahul ended up scoring 39 off 32 balls while his opening partner smashed a quick-fire 51 off 42 balls. Riding on Mayers and Nicholas Pooran's entertaining knocks, Rahul and Co. posted a match-winning total of 154-7 in 20 overs. Avesh Khan and Marcus Stoinis shared five wickets as Samson’s RR side only mustered 144-6 in 20 overs to lose the match by 10 runs at home.