Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) witnessed a close win over the table-toppers, Rajasthan Royals (RR) in a low-scoring affair in Jaipur on Wednesday, April 19. Despite their victory, LSG skipper KL Rahul was immensely criticized due to his labored innings at the top of the order against the home side. Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri dismissed the LSG skipper’s reasoning behind his low strike rate against the Royals.
KL Rahul
KL Rahul and his men batted first in the contest and were off to a decent start, owing to a gritty opening stand between the skipper and Kyle Mayers. They were 79 for no loss after the ten-over mark but failed to capitalize on their start, managing just 75 runs in their next ten overs.
While the LSG skipper cited the slow nature of the pitch as the reason for his measured approach at the crease, former Indian cricketer Ravi Shastri was not having any of it.
During a chat on Star Sports, Ravi Shastri said, “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.”
Ravi Shastri
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals, who were playing at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium for the first time after 2019, went down the same path as their opponents as none of the top-order batters kicked on in the latter part of the chase. Shastri felt that if any of Rajasthan’s top three batters had till the hands, the outcome of the game would’ve been different. The cricketer-turned-expert reckoned it is still early in the tournament and both teams will learn from their mistakes in the game.
Elaborating the same, Ravi Shastri said, “If the Rajasthan Royals team had done that. They would have won this game. Plenty to learn from this game for both sides on how to approach and taking chances at the right time. It’s still early days in the tournament. Rajasthan is No. 1 and Lucknow is No. 2 and they will learn a lot from this,” he added.
