All but out of contention for the IPL play-offs, KL Rahul’s future as Lucknow Super Giants skipper is uncertain for the remaining two games after the team received a pasting at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday. After his captaincy and archaic T20 batting style, there is still no clarity if the management would like to retain him by paying a hefty Rs 17 crore before the mega auction next season. The LSG management is tight-lipped on the issue. However, there is speculation that the skipper might step down on his own and concentrate on batting during the next two games.
“There is a five-day gap before the next game against DC. As of now, no decision has been taken but it is understood that if Rahul plans to just concentrate on his batting for the remaining two games, the management won’t mind,” an IPL source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
There is a possibility that since its a matter of only two games, Rahul might just lead the team.
Videos of LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka’s agitated conversation with Rahul emerged on social media after Sunrisers Hyderabad openers Travis Head (89 not out off 30 balls) and Abhishek Sharma (75 off 28 balls) reached a target of 167 in less than 10 overs.
This was after the LSG batters struggled to get going on the same track in Hyderabad.
Worse, Rahul’s (29 off 33 balls) batting in the Powerplay has been one of the biggest reasons for LSG’s below-par show in the cash-rich league and it seems that Goenka has finally run out of patience.
The India star has scored 460 runs in 12 games and could again cross the 500-run mark for the season but it is his strike-rate of 136.09 which is the problem.
It must be mentioned that among the top eight run getters in IPL, Rahul has the worst strike-rate batting inside the top three. All the other seven batters have a strike rate above 140, with some like Travis Head in the range of 200 plus. Virat Kohli, whose strike-rate was criticised enjoys a strike-rate of 148 plus.
LSG are still mathematically in contention as they can reach 16 points by winning their remaining two games — vs Delhi Capitals in New Delhi on May 14 and vs Mumbai Indians at Wankhede on May 17.
However, it will be very difficult to massively improve upon the net run-rate (-0.760).
In case, Rahul decides to step down, vice-captain Nicholas Pooran, easily the team’s most impactful batter in the season, is likely to take over for the remaining two games.
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