Gautam Gambhir recently addressed the pressure KL Rahul is under to perform in the upcoming IPL 2023 season. Reminding his critics of Rahul’s four IPL hundreds – two of which he scored last year – Gambhir made it clear that there is a huge difference between international and IPL cricket. He further took an indirect swipe at former cricketers like Venkatesh Prasad, who have been critical of Rahul’s form lately.
“How Rahul has fared in the IPL? He has 4-5 centuries in the tournament. And you are talking about a player who has already slammed 4-5 centuries. Even last season he scored a century against Mumbai Indians.
“Sometimes ex-cricketers need some masala to remain active. According to me, the kind of player KL is, he won’t be under any kind of pressure. You can’t win a tournament with one player. The 25 players who are inside the dressing room help you win the tournament.”
“International cricket and IPL are different from each other. If you don’t perform in international cricket despite scoring 1000 runs in IPL, you will still have to deal with criticism. After all, only 15 players get a chance to play for India. In IPL, more than 150 players get selected.” He further added.
Gambhir shed light on LSG’s performance last season
Gautam Gambhir applauded the performance of the Lucknow Super Giants last season, especially given the exemplary 616 runs scored by Rahul. He is confident that the team will have a successful IPL 2023 and commented:
“Last time we (Lucknow Super Giants) finished at No. 3 and it was a tough fight between RR and LSG. Obviously, only one team can lift the trophy. And Gujarat won the IPL, they played excellent cricket last season.
“And if you take a look at the performance of Lucknow in their debut season, they finished 3rd only because of the NRR. If you finish 2nd in IPL, you get 2 chances at the playoffs.”
