'Rahul has more six-hitting ability than someone like Pollard but...': Harbhajan dissects LSG captain's knock vs RCB

While he top-scored for his side, Rahul never managed to accelerate his innings against Bangalore. He finished with 79 off 58 deliveries at a strike rate of 136.21.

As Rajat Patidar laid the foundation for Royal Challengers Bangalore's big total in the Eliminator, the spotlight was on Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul to deliver in the crucial game at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday. Chasing 208 for the win, Lucknow lost Quinton de Kock in the first over of their reply, while Rahul went on to score 79. The Indian batter hit three fours and five maximums before falling to Josh Hazlewood in the penultimate over, with Lucknow still needing 28 runs to advance to the second Qualifier. IPL 2022 Full Coverage

Kieron Pollard and KL Rahul in ongoing IPL 2022 (IPLt20.com)

Rahul tried to scoop Hazlewood but was taken brilliantly by Shahbaz Ahmed at short fine leg, and Lucknow eventually finished on 193-6 to bow out of the 10-team competition. While he top-scored for his side, Rahul never managed to accelerate his innings. He finished with 79 off 58 deliveries at a strike rate of 136.21.

Pundits and fans questioned the conservative batting approach of Rahul, who has amassed more than 550 runs in every edition of IPL since 2018. But former India tweaker Harbhajan Singh said the Karnataka lad has got the ability to hit sixes and even rated him higher than West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard. Harbhajan further pointed out Lucknow's sluggish scoring rate at the start that eventually made the difference.

"KL Rahul often plays the role of an anchor. His six-hitting ability probably is more than someone like Kieron Pollard. But Lucknow played slow in the initial six overs. If they had got early momentum, Lucknow would have had fewer runs to score in the last few overs. Of course, Harshal and Hazlewood bowled well but Lucknow missed a trick by not scoring more runs in the powerplay. In the end, that decided the outcome of the game," Harbhajan told Sportskeeda.

Rahul himself acknowledged that "two big hits" would have probably done the job for Lucknow, who were chasing a hefty total. He managed to amass just a single boundary in seven overs after the powerplay.

"Yes, I think now, looking back, yes, it was just about two big hits in the middle overs and that could have gotten us over the line," Rahul said in the post-match press conference on Wednesday.

"We won a few games but generally overall we did not do well chasing. It's something that we need to learn," he said. "For me, I think this season has been like every other season, has been a good learning experience.

Rahul, who signed off with 616 runs in 15 games this season, admitted that his numbers while chasing haven't been satisfactory. His 79 in the eliminator was his highest and only fifty while batting second.

"I paid a bit of attention to the stats this season as well. Yes in this season, I've not scored much while batting second," he agreed.

"But it was a big game and when you come to a big game, you forget about your form, your runs in the last 14 matches.