KL Rahul's future as captain of the Lucknow Super Giants is all but out of contention for the IPL play-offs and has become a topic of intense debate after his team suffered a thrashing from Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday. There is speculation that the captain may step down and focus on his batting in the remaining two matches. However, since it is just two matches, Rahul is expected to remain the leader of the pack.
“There is a five-day break before the next match against DC. No decision has been made so far, but it is clear that if Rahul plans to focus only on his batting in the remaining two matches, no one will mind will find.” an IPL source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
A video of LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka's excited conversation with Rahul emerged on social media after Sunrisers Hyderabad openers Travis Head (89 not out off 30 balls) and Abhishek Sharma (75 off 28 balls) crushed the LSG attack to score the goal of 167 runs to review in less than 10 overtime.
This was after the LSG batters struggled to bat at the same track in Hyderabad.
Worse still, Rahul's (29 off 33 balls) batting in the Powerplay has been one of the biggest reasons for LSG's underperformance in the cash-rich league and it seems Goenka is finally running out of patience.
The India star has scored 460 runs in 12 matches and could cross the 500-run mark again, but the problem is his strike-rate of 136.09.
Of the top eight run-getters of the current season, Rahul has the worst batting in the top three.
All of the other seven batters have a strikeout rate over 140, with some, like Travis Head, hovering around 200. Virat Kohli, whose strike rate has been criticized, scores over 148.
LSG are mathematically still in contention as they can get 16 points by winning their remaining two matches – against Delhi Capitals in New Delhi on May 14 and against Mumbai Indians in Wankhede on May 17.
However, it will be very difficult to massively improve the net run rate (-0.760).
In case Rahul decides to resign, vice-captain Nicholas Pooran, by far the team's most impactful batsman this season, is likely to lead the side in the remaining two matches.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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