Lance Klusener responded to the Goenka-Rahul video, saying he did not see “any problem with some robust discussion between two cricket lovers”
| Photo Credit: JioCinema screengrab

Lucknow Super Giants assistant coach Lance Klusener on Monday played down team owner Sanjiv Goenka’s public outburst on their skipper K.L. Rahul, terming it “storm in a tea cup” and said he didn’t find any issue in a “robust discussion between two cricket lovers”.

Social media has been abuzz after Goenka was seen having an animated chat, purportedly reprimanding Rahul after LSG’s record demolition at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad, last Wednesday.

There have been speculations about Rahul’s future as LSG skipper also, but Klusener said there has been “certainly no discussions around” the matter.

“I don’t see any problem with some robust discussion between two cricket lovers. So for us, I guess it’s just a storm in a teacup. We love a robust discussion. I think that’s how teams get better. So, it’s not a big thing for us,” the South African said during the pre-match press conference.

“This IPL has been tough for Rahul”

Opening the batting, Rahul has scored 460 runs but his strike-rate reads 136.09, and it has put pressure on the LSG middle-order comprising Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran.

Klusener, however, backed the senior batter.

“KL has got his own unique style which has made him a fantastic player and respected around the world. I think this IPL has been exceptionally tough for him because we’ve kept losing wickets at stages which hasn’t allowed him to kick on where he likes. He probably feels like he’s always having to rebuild.

“I think as a batting unit around KL, we haven’t been as good as we should. It’s just been extremely tough conditions for him. That’s something we’ve chatted about as well — we’ve just kept losing wickets at tough times.”

However, Klusener said a big knock from Rahul was just around the corner.

“Then batters coming in, seem to have to be rebuilding the whole time and not just coming into a platform. So, I think by KL’s standards, he probably would have liked to have kicked on in a few more games.

“Probably (he) would have liked to have at least one or two hundreds that haven’t worked out for him. But there’s still a couple of games left. He’s in a good space. So, we’ve got our fingers crossed again for him,” he said.

LSG bowling unit was at the receiving end of a brutal onslaught from SRH openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, who racked up a record 167 in 9.4 overs.

“By the bowling unit’s high standards, they didn’t execute as well as they would have liked to on that surface and then you mix in two players who played absolutely beautifully and quite often that ends in a poor result for the team that doesn’t bring their best skills,” Klusener said.

“It was just a mix of some exceptionally hard batting and I don’t think we executed our skills as well as we should have and you mix that together, it doesn’t normally end well.”

LSG are currently at the seventh spot with 12 points, making the remaining two games a must-win contest to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

“I think we’ve been just a little bit inconsistent by our own high standards. We just need to deal with the fact of where we are now and make sure that we become consistent.

“As a team, we want to win the IPL, we probably need to win five in a row, which I think RCB has just done five in a row.

“So that’s just proved that for us it’s absolutely possible, but that’s just the big picture. We need to get over the line tomorrow before we can have any other aspirations.”

File picture of India captain Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya
| Photo Credit: AP

Yuzvendra Chahal and Shivam Dube were named in India’s 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. The team, announced by BCCI on Tuesday, will be led by Rohit Sharma. Hardik Pandya serves as the vice-captain.

Leggie Chahal, ignored for India’s recent T20 assignments, was picked on the strength of good returns for Rajasthan Royals in the ongoing IPL season. Chahal is the only right-arm spinner in the squad, with southpaws Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav forming the rest of the spin attack.

Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj are the specialist pacers.

Also read | ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2024: full schedule, dates and venues

Lucknow Super Giants skipper K.L. Rahul and Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Dinesh Karthik were among the notable omissions. Karthik had harboured hopes of making the bus, after finding good form as a finisher for RCB.

Shubman Gill lost out on the opener slot to Yashasvi Jaiswal. Gill and lower-order batter Rinku Singh were named in the reserves. Rinku gave way to Dube, who has shown a penchant for big hits.

The tournament marks the international comeback of wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant. Pant, who last donned the India cap in December 2022, was forced into a long layoff after suffering a car accident. The 26-year-old has proved his worth in IPL 2024, making vital contributions with the bat for Delhi Capitals (DC) and showing athleticism with the ’keeping gloves.

RR captain and fan-favourite Sanju Samson is the second gloveman. Samson has shone bright for RR, batting at a strike-rate of 161.08 with an average of 77.

Keeping faith in Kohli

The selectors have kept their faith in Virat Kohli, who in recent times has been criticised for not keeping a high strike-rate. Kohli had dismissed these concerns after an unbeaten 44-ball 70 for RCB against Gujarat Titans on Sunday, stating that “it is just about winning the game for the team.”

Trust has also been placed on Hardik, who has struggled in his maiden season as captain of Mumbai Indians. Hardik has failed with both bat and ball, and has faced the ire of MI fans who are unhappy with him replacing Rohit as the MI skipper.

India commences its World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium (New York), followed by the highly-anticipated clash against Pakistan on June 9 at the same venue.

India then takes on USA and Canada on June 12 and 15 respectively.

Full squad

Rohit Sharma (Captain), Hardik Pandya (Vice Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.

Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.

If KL Rahul leads Lucknow Super Giants to their maiden IPL title, he will automatically be rewarded with a spot in the Indian team for the T20 World Cup, reckons head coach Justin Langer, who wants his team’s national hopefuls to “concentrate” on doing well for the franchise first.

Rahul, who is coming back from a quadriceps injury and is not expected to keep wickets at the beginning of the IPL, is still not a certainty in the Indian T20 squad and only a good IPL with both the bat and gloves can seal the deal for him.

Asked how he would balance his skipper’s personal ambition with the team’s interests, Langer said it isn’t all that complicated.

“If the team does well, everyone gets rewarded. If KL can captain LSG to IPL title, that means he would have captained well, batted well and kept wickets well,” Langer replied to a PTI query during a season-opening media interaction on Wednesday.

Apart from Rahul, the other serious T20 World Cup contender from LSG is leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi.

“The message for players, like KL or Bishi (Bishnoi) will be that more they concentrate on playing well for LSG, their chances (of WT20 call-up) will increase.” Rahul is expected to link up with the team on Wednesday evening due to a flight delay but the former Australian opener didn’t say a word about when the star player will start keeping.

“He has followed all the ‘Return To Play’ protocols and he has been hitting a lot of balls.”

Bowling thin on experience but talent amazing

With foreign recruits Mark Wood and David Willey ruled out of the tournament, Lucknow Super Giants’ pace bowling unit looks thin on experience.

Shivam Mavi, the injury prone pacer, hasn’t played competitive cricket since August 2023 while Delhi’s talented tearaway quick Mayank Yadav was out of the entire Ranji Trophy season with a side strain.

Mohsin Khan, the find of the 2022 IPL, has had injury issues and Yash Thakur isn’t very experienced at the tournament level.

“It is a very good observation that we lack some experience in pace department but there is enormous talent. The pacers — they all look fit, healthy and hungry.”

“We need to manage them well not just at start but through the whole tournament. Among pacers Naveen (ul Haq) has played a lot of T20 cricket,” the 2021 T20 World Cup and multiple Ashes winning coach, said.

The coach seemed mighty impressed with Mayank and said he seems to be a phenomenal talent with “serious pace”.

Apart from Naveen, the other overseas fast bowler is Shamar Joseph, the West Indies sensation, who has won hearts with his performances in the recent two Tests in Australia.

However, with very little T20 experience even in the Caribbean Premier League, will he come in handy in IPL? Langer sounded bullish.

“He didn’t have experience even before going into two Test matches,” Langer sounded dismissive about the experience bit.

“I was commentating and I saw him take seven wickets in 37 degrees, 80 per cent humidity and a broken toe. He is an incredible athlete. Smile, spirit, athleticism and skill, he has got all those ingredients that you need to succeed. Another talented guy is Mayank.” Langer was also pretty confident about the spin bowling arsenal of his team, especially Bishnoi and the 41-year-old veteran leg-break bowler Amit Mishra.

Tamil Nadu’s left-arm spinner M Siddharth has also caught coach’s attention.

“He (Bishnoi) is an outstanding bowler. I love his energy. I watched his training. There is no better pure leg-spinner than Mishi (Mishra’s nickname). I saw young M Siddarth, who bowled a maiden over first-up in a training game. There is Krishnappa Gowtham.” Gautam Gambhir was the mentor of LSG before he joined KKR ahead of this season. Asked whether the fans can expect a face-off with the feisty former India player, Langer said there is only admiration for the work he did with the franchise.

“There is no face-off. I was disappointed when he left for KKR but he is a real hero in KKR. We have been good friends,” said Langer, who had once conducted personalised coaching sessions for Gambhir in Perth, when he needed to sort out his game against the short ball.

“But then when we play DC, my good friend Ricky Ponting is the coach, in CSK, Stephen Fleming and Mike Hussey are friends.”

Coaching an IPL team

For Langer, coaching an IPL team is quite similar to coaching an international team.

“It is only at domestic level that you get players for pre-season. At international level, players only assemble before competition phase. So it is pretty similar.” Having guided Australia to a T20 World Cup title, Langer said that he knows the “blue-print of success” but it will be important to execute the plans.

“I have been sleeping well for the past two years after I left coaching Australia. Now I will have sleepless nights in fitting so much talent in just 11 slots,” he said referring to his forced break he had to take after leaving the Australia job for not getting a long-term contract following discontent among players.

India’s Shubman Gill during a practice session at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
| Photo Credit: DEEPAK KR

“It takes one day,” is the theme of the current World Cup. Across venues, these words leap from ICC banners. Perhaps it is the unspoken motto within the teams as fortunes get altered and a new dawn is embraced. True to that spirit, Afghanistan and the Netherlands ambushed England and South Africa respectively because all it takes is just one day.

However, if one team has retained its rich vein of form so far in this championship, it has to be India. With three wins on the trot, the Men in Blue have been on an upward climb even if the peak of lifting the World Cup remains an evolving dream. A familiar rival awaits India in the match at the MCA Stadium here on Thursday. Bangladesh, a neighbour with a long border and a shared love for Bengali and riverine fishes like the hilsa, has hurt India in the past.

The two distinct banana peels for India were the matches in the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies and the 2012 Asia Cup in Dhaka. The first loss saw India crashing out of the premier tournament and the then distraught skipper Rahul Dravid is now the coach while the second defeat ruined Sachin Tendulkar’s special night after he had registered his 100th international hundred. Recently, Bangladesh overcame India with a six-run win in the Asia Cup joust in Colombo on Sept. 15.

Yet, India would fancy its chances while being guarded. Rohit Sharma’s men have ticked most boxes with the batting and bowling arms being in sync. Runs posted, wickets claimed and catches taken, cricket’s elementary nuances have all been seemingly mastered by the host even if these are early days for a long-winding tournament. While the playing eleven seems set, it remains to be seen if Mohammed Shami or R. Ashwin get a toe-in, a prospect that bowling coach Paras Mhambrey did not commit upon in the pre-game media interaction.

On match-eve, a warm sun beat down on the grass and India would hope that its strategies remain efficient and the game would be as easy as dunking this city’s favourite Shrewsbury cookies into a cup of tea. Obviously, Bangladesh will have other plans.

The old duo of skipper Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim may be the fulcrum but there are fitness concerns around the former, which he partially allayed with a stint in the nets on Tuesday. However, a final call on the Bangladeshi skipper’s availability will be taken on Thursday morning.

Having lost two out of three tussles in this World Cup, the visitors have to lift their game. Bangladesh does know a trick or two about cutting down the Big Brother to size, starting from 2007. India, though, would prefer to stay imposing, like the rolling hills around the venue.

The teams (from):

India: Rohit Sharma (Capt.), K.L. Rahul (wk), Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav.

Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (Capt.), Najmul Hossain, Litton Das, Towhid Hridoy, Tanzid Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Mahedi Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed and Tanzim Hasan Sakib.

Umpires: Adrian Holdstock and Richard Kettleborough; Third umpire: Kumar Dharmasena; Match referee: Andrew Pycroft.

Match starts at 2 p.m.

Strike force: Siraj and Bumrah have combined well to deal timely blows. 
| Photo Credit: DEEPAK KR

Traversing India’s geographical diversity is inevitable for the Men in Blue while they chase World Cup glory. Be it the humid Coromandel Coast, northern hinterland, Gujarat’s dusty plains or now the leap across the Western Ghats just in time for Thursday’s clash against Bangladesh here at the MCA Stadium close to the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, Rohit Sharma’s men have been busy travellers.

In the weeks ahead more air miles await as the host is bound to leave footprints far and wide, be it the Himalayas, Gangetic Plains, the coasts (west and east) and the Deccan Plateau. Hopefully, the final destination will be Ahmedabad, the venue for the summit clash on November 19. But it is a milestone that is a month away and the Indian team would rather ‘focus on the process’.

Three emphatic wins over Australia, Afghanistan and Pakistan has left India in a good space. The margin of triumphs, all secured while chasing — by six wickets, eight wickets and seven wickets — reveal a top and middle-order that have delivered despite the ghastly two for three in that initial phase against the Aussies.

The return of Shubman Gill augurs well while the old guard of skipper Rohit and his predecessor Virat Kohli have clicked. K.L. Rahul and Shreyas Iyer too have been among the runs.

Tougher battles on the road ahead seem unavoidable but the batting is in good nick and the bowlers, led by Jasprit Bumrah, have delivered. Mohammed Siraj, after a middling outing against Afghanistan, belatedly found his rhythm against Pakistan. As a bowling unit, India has controlled the middle overs, its batting core has sparkled and the fielding has been adequate and efficient, and all these constitute a recipe for success.

But there could be some vulnerable spots. India’s batting has not been fully tested. Hardik Pandya got one hit, while the rest, from Ravindra Jadeja to the tail, are yet to stride towards the batting crease. In cricketing utopia, especially in ODIs, it is best if just the main batters do the job.

However, reality could spring a nasty surprise as it did during the 2019 World Cup semifinal against New Zealand at Manchester. Rohit, Rahul and Virat scored a solitary run each and despite the resistance lower down the order from Hardik, M.S. Dhoni and Jadeja, India lost the game by 19 runs.

In the current edition, India does have a weak tail, a reality that the management is attempting to mask by fielding three all-rounders in the eleven: Hardik, Jadeja and Shardul Thakur. The odd inquisition may happen but the squad exudes a quiet confidence, evident in the scintillating performance on the field and from the happy behind-the-scenes videos that the management posts on social media.

Living in the present, quelling one opponent at a time and being ready if and when a match crisis pops up remain the key, besides staying fit, both physically and mentally. The coming days, be it in Pune or in Dharamshala, should offer further hints about India’s progress into the last four.

India’s KL Rahul plays a shot during the Asia Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan in Colombo.
| Photo Credit: AP

Virat Kohli was brilliant in pacing his innings as usual but India captain Rohit Sharma doffed his hat for comeback man KL Rahul, whose hundred was equally important in team’s record breaking 228-run victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in an Asia Cup Super 4 match here on Monday.

Kohli scored an unbeaten on 122 and Rahul remained 111 not out as their 233-run stand for the third wicket took India to a record equalling 356 for two. Kuldeep Yadav blew away the Pakistan batters with a five-wicket haul to set up the big win.

“Virat’s innings was brilliantly paced. And then KL, last minute to get back from injury and play 5 minutes before the toss. We told him to get ready. Shows the mindset of the player. Looking at how we batted, there were lots of positives with the openers and then Virat and KL,” said Rohit.

The Indian skipper himself scored an attacking fifty to set the platform and couldn’t be happier that his team ticked all boxes in a near-flawless performance.

“It was a fantastic performance, right from yesterday. When we started, we knew the wicket was good and we had to adjust with the rain, the two experienced guys we knew they’d take time to get their eye in and then we can get going.” It was also Jasprit Bumrah’s first chance to roll his arm in an ODI game after his comeback from a back surgery.

“He looked good. He swung it both ways and he’s worked really hard for the last 8-10 months. Bumrah is only 27 (nearly 30), for him to miss games isn’t ideal but the way he bowled showed what he is all about,” Rohit said.

The skipper also thanked the Premadasa ground staff for their tireless work to get a full game despite multiple stoppages through the last two days.

“We just wanted to get out on the park, to get some game time. Lot of guys haven’t had that. That could only happen thanks to a great effort from the groundsmen. I know how tough it is to cover and remove covers from the whole ground. On behalf of the entire team, we would like to thank them.”