Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) locked horns with Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Saturday (April 22). It was a special match for LSG skipper KL Rahul who achieved a big milestone as he shattered Rahul Dravid's captaincy record in the IPL. Now he is on cusp of breaking Sachin Tendulkar's record. Rahul bagged the milestone the moment he took up the field for the toss which GT skipper win and thus decided to bat first. This was Rahul's 49th appearance while captaining a side in IPL as he went past former Rajasthan Royals' Dravid's 48-match tally.
The legendary Tendulkar is next on the list as he led Mumbai Indians in 51 IPL matches. KL first led Punjab Kings as a full-time skipper in IPL 2020 and did it again in 2021. Rahul failed to take PBKS to playoffs on both occasions and thus left the franchise and was then acquired by LSG for Rs 17 crore ahead of IPL 2022 mega-auction, the new franchise making its mark with a big signing.
In a total of 48 matches that KL Rahul has captained in the IPL so far, he has emerged victorious in 24 ties and lost 22 games. Notably, MS Dhoni leads the list as he has featured in 216 matches as CSK and RPSG captain. Dhoni recently became the first player to lead a single franchise in IPL in 200 matches.
Five-time IPL-winning captain, Rohit Sharma (147 matches), is at the second spot followed by Virat Kohli (141 matches) and Gautam Gambhir (129 matches).
Talking about the match Pandya won the toss and opted to bat first. GT posted a lowly total of 136 for LSG to chase.
“We will bat first. Looks like a slow track, want to get the best out of it. There is no time to test our batters now. I am sure they have would have batted first as well if they won the toss. They're doing a fantastic job. I think on this wicket, the better option is to bat first. We're not worried about our record while chasing. Even if the records say that we still have to do a good job. Alzarri misses out and Noor Ahmad comes in,” GT skipper Pandya said after winning the toss.
Follow the LSG vs GT's live scores here
“I would have batted but not worried about it. We will play good cricket. We bowled against SRH as well, we would like to restrict them to a good target and chase it down. Same 12 players. Yudhvir misses out, Amit Mishra comes in, he was the impact player in the last game. Trusted the 12-13 players, have had a few injuries, each game someone has put their hand up and done the job for the team. We are gelling together well and winning games. That goes hand in hand. it's been a good vibe in the dressing room,” LSG captain KL Rahul said after the toss.
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): KL Rahul(c), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Nicholas Pooran(w), Ayush Badoni, Naveen-ul-Haq, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi.
Subs: Jaydev Unadkat, Krishnappa Gowtham, Daniel Sams, Prerak Mankad, Karan Sharma
Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya(c), Vijay Shankar, Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma.
Subs: Joshua Little, Jayant Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Srikar Bharat
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