Former India pacer lashes down at KL Rahul for most ‘hideous IPL innings’ against RCB

Despite leading his team to a stunning last-ball triumph at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday, KL Rahul, the captain of the Lucknow Super Giants, was criticised for his painstaking 20-ball knock against Royal Challengers Bangalore during an IPL 2023 encounter. LSG skipper KL Rahul hit 18 runs off 20 balls with a strike rate of 90 in a T20 encounter when 213 was chased down.

 In the high-scoring game, he served as the sole batter (with over ten balls) whose runs were achieved at a strike rate below 125. Rahul just managed one boundary during his spell in the middle despite batting during the powerplay phase in the 213-run chase. Although the asking rate was high, Rahul batted subduedly in the initial six overs despite the loss of LSG’s high-form opening batter Kyle Mayers and all-arounder Krunal Pandya for ducks, as well as the dismissal of Deepak Hooda for just nine runs.

LSG had no chance at all of winning the game if it weren’t for some incredible hitting from Marcus Stoinis (65 off 30) as well as Nicholas Pooran (62 off 19). Dodda Ganesh, a former Indian bowler, criticised Rahul harshly for his strategy, calling it “the most hideous innings played in the history of the IPL.” 

Doddas further stated his agitation about KL Rahul’s innings via his note on Twitter. He said, “Not one shot with intent from KL Rahul in the PP while chasing 213. Don’t know what’s in his mind. You simply can’t bat like this. This innings from KL Rahul has to be the most hideous innings played in the history of IPL ever considering the context of the game. Man. What’s in his mind? Seriously. This can’t happen for so long at this level. It’s not school cricket.” 

KL Rahul, the captain of the winning team spoke to the media during the post-match presentation where he also spoke about his slow innings. He said, “If I score more runs, the strike rate will go up. I looked at the situation and I feel I had done the right thing. Hopefully, with a couple of good knocks the strike rate will go up.”