IPL 2023: KL Rahul seems to be under pressure, never used to play like this, says former India pacer

KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) beat Rajasthan Royals (RR) by ten runs in match 26 of IPL 2023 on Wednesday (April 19). Put into bat, LSG were slow in their approach, on a tricky two-paced wicket, to post 154 for 7 but restricted the home side for 144 for 6 to emerge on top at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur. While Rahul rotated his bowlers nicely and was praised for his captaincy, by former cricketers Shaun Pollock and Murali Karthik, he was slammed for his rusty 32-ball 39.

Opening the innings, Rahul and Kyle Mayers took some time to get going. While Mayers managed a 42-ball 51, Rahul was also unimpressive as he returned with 39 (32). Thus, former India pacer RP Singh opined on Rahul's sluggish knock and said 'he never used to play like this'.

Singh said on JioCinema, "KL Rahul never used to play like this, he used to always have a good strike rate, take the attack to the opposition and play good shots, but here he seemed to be stuck and under pressure."

He added, "I might be wrong, but he is probably thinking that his form might return after playing a big innings. His form is not bad, he is still playing his shots, but he is not being able to find those gaps in his shots, he should take those calculative risks which he is not taking."

At the post-match presentation, Rahul said, "We game in here yesterday and saw 180 would be a par score, but the first over from Boult, me and Kyle had a chat and realised this isn't a 180 wicket. The ball was keeping a bit low, so we gave ourselves time in the powerplay. Maybe if we played a bit better, we might have got 170 as well." However, he was also slammed by former India head coach Ravi Shastri for his defensive approach.

"Absolutely (needs to get the strike up). All that talk about 160, I don't buy it. When you have two chances, if you convert that 39 to 60 or 70, 160 becomes 175. You need someone in the top 3 to carry on and play that long innings," Shastri told Star Sports.

LSG are in the second spot in the points table, with eight points from six games, and will host defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) at theBharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Saturday afternoon (April 22).