Lucknow Super Giants downplay incident between KL Rahul and Sanjeev Goenka

May 14, 2024

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Lucknow Super Giants downplay incident between KL Rahul and Sanjeev Goenka

The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) camp has sought to calm the waters after a video emerged showing team owner Sanjeev Goenka engaged in an animated conversation with captain KL Rahul following a heavy defeat against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Speculation swirled that Goenka’s public outburst signaled potential discontent with Rahul’s captaincy, but assistant coach Lance Klusener dismissed those notions entirely.

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“No, certainly no discussions around that [captaincy change],” Klusener said clearly, shutting down any rumors before their crucial match against the Delhi Capitals.

The incident stemmed from LSG’s disappointing performance against Hyderabad. Mustering a meager 165 runs on a high-scoring pitch, they witnessed their opponents chase it down with ease in just 9.4 overs. This massive loss not only dented their net run-rate but also placed their playoff qualification hopes in jeopardy. It was in this context that Goenka was seen having a seemingly heated discussion with Rahul, captured on television.

However, Klusener downplayed the exchange, terming it a “storm in a teacup.”

“I don’t see any problem with some robust discussion between two cricket lovers,” he explained. “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 coach elaborated.

While KL Rahul’s batting prowess is undeniable, with consistent seasons exceeding 1000 runs since IPL 2022, his strike rate has been a point of debate. Currently, he leads the Lucknow Super Giants run-scoring charts with 460 runs at an average of 38.33, but his slow starts in some matches have raised eyebrows. The struggles of fellow opener Quinton de Kock haven’t helped either.

Klusener, however, defended his captain. He pointed out that Rahul often finds himself in a position where he needs to rebuild the innings due to a struggling middle order, hindering his ability to score freely compared to other batsmen in the competition.

“I think everybody’s got their own style,” Klusener said. “KL’s got his own unique style, which has made him a fantastic player not just here in India but around the world and respected around the world. I think this IPL has been exceptionally tough for him because we’ve kept losing wickets at poor stages, which hasn’t allowed him to kick on where he liked. He probably feels like he’s always having to rebuild. So I think as a batting unit around KL we haven’t been as good as we should. So I think it’s just been extremely tough conditions for him in that way.”

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“It’s something we’ve chatted about as well is that we’ve just kept losing wickets at tough times and batters coming in seem to have to be rebuilding the whole time and not just coming into a platform. So by KL’s high standards he probably would have liked to have kicked on in a few more games and probably 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 and he’s still in a good space. So we’ve got our fingers crossed for him,” Klusener added, expressing confidence in his captain.

With only 12 points from 12 games, Lucknow Super Giants faces a significant challenge to secure a top-four finish. They need to win their remaining matches against Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians by significant margins to improve their net run-rate, currently at a low -0.769. Additionally, their qualification hopes depend on other results going their way.

Instead of dwelling on the past, Klusener emphasized focusing on what they can control – the upcoming matches.

“We’ve got two games to go. It doesn’t really matter what’s happened in the past, whether we’ve won or lost, it makes no difference to us. We’re focusing on the next two games. And how best we can get over the line in both of them. Whether we then qualify or not, I guess, that’s of our making from the way we played. But, our focus really is just to getover the line tomorrow and then we’ll worry about Mumbai after that,” the coach concluded, highlighting their do-or-die approach for the upcoming encounter.