Legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar wants Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul to try and bat till the 16th over which will always put his team in hunt for big totals.
Having started off their inaugural IPL campaign with a five-wicket loss to Gujarat Titans, the KL Rahul-led team stunned four-time champions Chennai Super Kings by six wickets en route their first win in thee tournament.
Chasing a stiff target of 211, LSG overhauled the target in 19.3 overs, primarily due to Evin Lewis and Ayush Badoni. Rahul, who scored 40 off 26 balls, along with half-centurion Quinton de Kock had laid the platform for a big chase.
"He's not just somebody who can begin the innings and get the team off to a good start," Gavaskar said.
"He has all the shots in the book to finish it off as well. So if he gets going till the 15th-16th over, then LSG can post 200-plus on the board," he added.
For Gavaskar, the duration of Rahul's stay at the wicket will determine the course for Lucknow.
"KL Rahul is such an integral part of any team. He opens the batting and gets to bat 20 overs and sets the pace for his team. I believe he has the ability to be the finisher as well," he added.
With their campaign back on track after a poor start, KL Rahul-led LSG will rely on their batting prowess to get past Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) when they clash with each other on Monday (April 4).
LSG did not have the best start to their debut season, losing by five wickets against fellow IPL debutants Gujarat Titans. But they roared back in style by beating defending champions Chennai Super Kings six wickets in a high-scoring affair in their second match.
On the other hand, sitting bottom of the table Sunrisers were blown away by the batting effort of Rajasthan Royals in a 61-run defeat in their opening match. Comprising a mediocre squad, Sunrisers players need to punch above their weight.
While experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/29) produced an economical spell, the likes of Romario Shepherd (1/33), Umran Malik (2/39), T Natarajan (2/43) and Washington Sundar leaked runs against RR.
Lucknow Super Giants squad:
KL Rahul (c & wk), Quinton de Kock (wk), Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Evin Lewis, Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder, Andrew Tye, Kyle Mayers, Avesh Khan, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi, Ayush Badoni, Manan Vohra, Krishnappa Gowtham, Shahbaz Nadeem, Ankit Rajpoot, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Karan Sharma.
Sunrisers Hyderabad's full squad:
Kane Williamson (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Priyam Garg, Vishnu Vinod, Glenn Phillips, R Samarth, Shashank Singh, Washington Sundar, Romario Shepherd, Marco Jansen, J Suchith, Shreyas Gopal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sean Abbott, Kartik Tyagi, Saurabh Tiwary, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Umran Malik, T Natarajan.
