KL Rahul has been a captain in the IPL for a while now, leading PBKS and LSG in recent seasons. His leadership has even earned him the opportunity to captain the Indian team in Rohit Sharma’s absence. However, he has not been regarded as a shrewd captain, and his approach to the game, decision-making, and performances have come under fire. Rahul’s questionable comments, including his infamous statement that the “strike rate is overrated,” have been criticized in press conferences and post-match interactions.
Below are three bizarre statements made by Rahul during the 2023 IPL season as captain of the LSG.
3) “We just needed them to go over the rope” – KL Rahul after LSG’s first defeat of IPL 2023
The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) faced their first defeat of IPL 2023 against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Chepauk, despite a blazing start from Kyle Mayers who scored 53 off 22 balls. LSG struggled against spin in the middle overs and fell 12 runs short of their target of 218. Captain KL Rahul’s decision-making and strange batting order decisions came under scrutiny during the game. However, he refused to blame his decision to bowl first and instead pointed to the tricky pitch conditions in the middle overs. Rahul also attributed the loss to some batters’ failure to clear the boundary, which is a common occurrence in T20 cricket.
During a post-match interview, Rahul said,
“Not really, I wouldn’t change the decision I made at the toss. We didn’t win a few phases in the game and that’s why we ended up on the losing side. It’s not often that we’ll find ourselves in a situation where four or five of our batters are caught on the boundary line. We just needed them to go over the rope, and we’ll end up on the winning side. The margins didn’t go our way today.”
2) “A few batters got caught just at the boundary line” – KL Rahul after defeat to PBKS
KL Rahul’s captaincy and batting came under scrutiny in Lucknow Super Giants’ match against his former team Punjab Kings. Despite scoring 74 off 56 balls, Rahul failed to accelerate the innings. Additionally, his decision to introduce Ravi Bishnoi, Lucknow’s biggest threat on the surface, as the sixth bowler raised eyebrows. However, in his post-match comments, Rahul once again cited batters getting caught on the boundary as the primary reason for the defeat. He said,
“A few of the batters hit some good shots but got caught just at the boundary line. On another day, a couple of them go just over the ropes and we would’ve got those extra 12-15 runs, which would’ve made a big difference. That’s part of the game, we learn from it.”
However, this argument is flawed, as getting caught on the boundary is a common occurrence in T20 cricket and is usually due to poor execution rather than bad luck.
Therefore, it is clear that repeatedly blaming this as a significant event is not a valid explanation for the defeat, and Rahul should have addressed the real issues in his team’s performance.
1) “I don’t know where it went wrong” – KL Rahul after defeat to GT
KL Rahul’s recent statement following Lucknow Super Giants’ loss to Gujarat Titans in IPL 2023 has been criticized. Despite contributing to the team’s seven-run loss by slowing down and eventually getting dismissed for 68 off 61 balls, Rahul seemed clueless and stated that he didn’t know what had happened. He accepted that the team’s batting effort could have been faster but couldn’t pinpoint the issues. His lack of accountability has drawn criticism. His specific words were,
“Absolutely not (can’t believe it). I don’t know how this has happened; it happened so fast. Cricket keeps reminding us that the game’s not won until the last ball. I still can’t put a finger on it and say where it went wrong, but it is what it is. We had the game in our pockets but we let it slip and lost two points.”