Harbhajan Singh believed that the on field spat between LSG skipper KL Rahul and owner Sanjiv Geonka after a horrifying loss to SRH within 9.4 overs chasing 167 was a picture that didn’t go well with the individual player who is an India -capped player with the viewers who follow cricket and even the players who want to play cricket in future.
Harbhajan Singh believes that it is OK as an franchise owner to be angry on team’s performance as a lot of money is at stake in the cash rich league but such heated conversations should be taken behind closed doors and not on open grounds where camera’s are surrounding the players and taking their performances worldwide.
Harbhajan Singh hurt by the way LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka interacted with KL Rahul
Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh gave his opinion on (LSG) owner Sanjiv Goenka having an animated chat with skipper KL Rahul after their loss to the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). In a video that has gone viral on social media, fans have been questioning Goenka for his reaction and have sympathized with Rahul.
There’s quite a buzz around IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants following their loss against the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow recently. The LSG owner, Sanjiv Goenka, was seen having an animated chat with his skipper KL Rahul following the big defeat and it set the social media ablaze.
India legend Harbhajan Singh suggested that such discussions should not have taken place out in the open and could hamper the team’s environment. The former Indian offspinner suggested that it was normal to have disagreements with the management but resolution of these conflicts should have been done more privately.
KL Rahul seemed rattled during the conversation with the LSG owner and understandably so as his team had just conceded a target of 166 in just 9.4 overs, thanks to a blitzkrieg from Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head
Harbhajan Singh feels that after a devastating loss like that, LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka needed to give KL Rahul some space to gather his thoughts. He shed light on how anger got the better of him when he was a player and feels that it is something that should be avoided in conversations.
On this, Harbhajan stated on the same Press Room:
“When a captain is walking out after a loss like that, he is already short for words. He doesn’t know what to do next. At such times, anger makes things worse. *As a captain and as a player I have done many mistakes in anger* and I would say that postmortem brings out nothing but anger. So we need to control that.”
Harbhajan Singh also claimed that the conversation should have taken place behind closed doors, an opinion several other cricketing experts had also shared. It will be interesting to see if Rahul’s confidence as a player and a leader has been affected after LSG’s loss against SRH.
“The timing was also not right,” he added.
KKR is a great unit- Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh then cited his time with Kolkata Knight Riders and the owner Shah Rukh Khan. Harbhajan Singh was all praise to the KKR owner and mentioned that he was someone who did not get involved in cricketing matters.
“KKR is a great unit, huge fan of Khan sahab. Hats off to that guy, he just doesn’t interfere at all when it comes to cricket. Their dressing room looks very secure,” Harbhajan said.
The former KKR man reckons that a good mentor would have to make sure that the entire team is on the same wavelength.
“That’s what a good mentor does, wherever he goes, to ensure that everyone is on the same page and plays as one unit. A happy team is a winning team,” he said.
Lucknow Super Giants still have a chance to qualify for the playoffs with 16 points and will hope that more than on field conversations they would rise their on field game to move a step ahead in IPL 2024.