Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) suffered their first defeat at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). At Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, nothing went LSG’s way as the below par target set by them was chased down in a record 9.4 overs as Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma became the visitors’ worst nightmare. The defeat was followed by an animated conversation between LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka and skipper KL Rahul. Following the scenes in Hyderabad, there were reports that Rahul may get sacked as captain with two more games to go. However, with two games to go in their league stage campaign, it isn’t the case.
“Why would we ask out captain to step down when there is no need to do so. We are focusing on our next game. There is not question of captaincy change at all. The teams that are placed at 10th and ninth position are not even thinkg about captaincy change then why should we? We still have a chance (to reach playoff) and are no.5 at the moment (on the points table). Any team may have a bad day or the captain but it does not mean there is a need of change in the leadership,” an LSG top source told Sports Tak on the condition of anonymity.
Rahul’s approach to the innings after batting first was criticised. After Quinton de Kock and Marcus Stoinis were dismissed for single-digit scores, Rahul went into a shell and did not hit a single four in the powerplay overs. LSG were 27/2 after six overs. The wicketkeeper-batter could not break the shackles and scored 29 runs from 33 balls.
Defending a total of 165, Rahul was left clueless as Head and Abhishek hit the bowlers all around the park. The dropped catch of Abhishek off Ravi Bishnoi’s bowling did not let LSG make a comeback in the powerplay overs. The onslaught continued but Rahul did not use the services of Marcus Stoinis and Krunal Pandya against a rampant opening pair. As a result, the target was chased down in just 9.4 overs.
After a long break, LSG will take on Delhi Capitals (DC) on May 14. Their last league clash is against Mumbai Indians (MI) on May 17. They need to win both games and also boost their net run rate (NRR) to qualify for the playoff.
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