Former India player Sanjay Manjrekar said on Thursday that KL Rahul has a deep-rooted issue when he has to score quick runs for his sides in the Indian Premier League. And, Manjrekar’s comments came after Rahul came under the scanner after Lucknow Super Giants’ defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2022 Eliminator on Wednesday at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
While chasing 208, Lucknow Super Giants lost by 14 runs. Rahul top-scored for LSG but hit 79 from 58 balls, striking at 136. Rahul failed to take the team home until the end and finish it off for LSG as he struggled to make up for a poor middle overs period. The LSG captain was dismissed in the 19th over as well.
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“Every time he decided to play the big shot, it came off. He played a couple of terrific shots against Hazlewood. He can do it when he wants to but he just has this deep-rooted belief or approach that he wants to bat longer rather than quicker,” Sanjay Manjrekar told ESPNCricinfo. “If I were the coach, I would just that decision out of his hand, even I were the captain. We have seen a lot of games where the teams would benefit immensely if KL Rahul had batted quicker rather than longer.”
“We have seen enough of KL Rahul to now know that when he becomes this player, this captain, the key player of the side. Virat Kohli loved that kind of responsibility, MS Dhoni loved it, Rohit Sharma, barring this season, generally likes that of responsibility. Maybe KL Rahul temperamentally is not suited to take this kind of responsibility where he is the man who has to get the job done. As a coach, I would drill that into his head that ‘as a coach, I am not expecting you to win games, you just go and have fun’,” he shared.
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“That’s why I believe he has a much better strike rate at the international level because he is one of the many batters like Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma so he just goes out there and expresses himself. The intention is right, he wants to win games for his side. Maybe he is not cut out. A strike rate of 120-130 until the 16th over, that’s maybe leaving too much for the end,” Sanjay Manjrekar concluded.
