KL Rahul maintained his opening position in the batting order for the 2024 Indian Premier League season despite the speculation about him potentially moving down the order to audition for the wicketkeeper-batsman role in the T20 World Cup for Team India. It appears that he wasn’t left out of the squad altogether either. This suggests that the team management either decided against experimenting with his batting position or they found his opening role indispensable for their strategy.
Despite KL Rahul‘s impressive performance as the seventh-highest run-getter of the season with 465 runs at a strike rate of 136.36 in 13 matches, including three fifties, it’s surprising that Lucknow Super Giants find themselves on the brink of elimination. LSG fans would be happy that they end their tournament on a high note after thrashing the depleted MI.
We haven’t allowed KL Rahul to play his natural game- Lance Klusener
KL Rahul’s performance with the bat has been acknowledged positively by assistant coach Lance Klusener, despite the team’s challenging situation. Klusener suggests that Rahul may have had to adjust his natural attacking instincts due to the pressure of wickets falling around him during the IPL matches. When Klusener was asked about whether KL Rahul was pressurized by his role as a captain, he replied back saying :
“He’s had some great performances over the tournament. He’s had to rebuild a lot of the times. We’ve lost wickets around him. We haven’t allowed him to play his natural game,” said Lance Klusener.
“It’s easy to just sit and think, ‘oh, well, he hasn’t had a great tournament’. But if you look at his numbers, they’re actually not bad at all, considering the circumstances that he’s had to bat,” he stated.
Klusener further mentioned:
“He’s got the respect of the group. In terms of his captaincy, it’s been outstanding. (But) if he looks back, he might just be a little frustrated with the amount of runs that he scored,”
The former South African cricketer is discussing Rahul’s role in some cricket league matches. Being left to rebuild the innings frequently suggests that Rahul often found himself in situations where the team had lost early wickets, and he had to stabilize the innings rather than play aggressively. This could indeed hinder his ability to play his natural game, which might involve more attacking shots and scoring at a faster rate.
“If you look at the circumstances, he’s had to rebuild a lot of the time while he’s been batting, so the batting group around him haven’t done him too many favors either,” he added.
Klusener took a diplomatic stance regarding the team’s underperformance, opting not to point fingers or attribute blame to any specific factor. Instead, Klusener’s refusal to assign blame suggests a recognition of the complex interplay of factors that can affect a team’s performance, from individual player form to team strategy, external pressures, and even luck.
“I’m a big believer that the bowling group plays a huge role in winning T20 games. But there’s no blame at anyone’s door. It’s just a consistency as a group that has led us down this year. We haven’t scored enough runs and again, we haven’t taken enough wickets as well. You put all that together and that’s why you end up where we are on the log,” he concluded.