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KL Rahul moved to the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) from the Punjab Kings (PBKS) ahead of the IPL 2022 Auction. The Lucknow-based franchise appointed him as their new captain for the 2022 season. Rahul led the team to the playoffs in their debut season itself, where they lost against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Eliminator.
LSG have kicked off their IPL 2023 season with three wins in four matches. They look set for another top-4 finish. However, some fans of the Lucknow-based franchise are unhappy with captain KL Rahul's batting performances so far this season.
Speaking of his numbers so far, Rahul has scored 81 runs in four matches at an average of 20.25. His strike rate has been just 100 this season. In IPL 2022, Rahul scored 24.81% of the runs scored by the Lucknow Super Giants, but in IPL 2023, he has only scored 10.98% of the team runs.
During his stint as the Lucknow Super Giants captain, KL Rahul has played some magnificent knocks for the team. His twin hundreds against the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2022 entertained the fans a lot, but here's a list of the three instances when Rahul's slow batting angered the LSG fans.
#1 KL Rahul's last IPL innings - 18 (20) vs. Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2023
The Lucknow Super Giants played their last match of IPL 2023 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The pitch at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium was fantastic for batting. RCB scored 212/2 in their 20 overs.
M Chinnaswamy Stadium is Rahul's home ground in domestic cricket. He also has a brilliant record against RCB in the IPL, which is why LSG fans expected a stupendous knock from him.
However, the LSG captain ended up scoring just 18 runs off 20 balls. He managed only one four in his 20 deliveries. Interestingly, Rahul's teammate Nicholas Pooran aggregated 62 runs off 19 balls in the same match.
#2 KL Rahul's slow start against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Eliminator
As mentioned earlier, the Lucknow Super Giants qualified for the playoffs last year, where they suffered a defeat against RCB in the Eliminator. Quite a few LSG fans felt that captain KL Rahul's slow start reduced the team's chances of winning.
RCB set a 208-run target for LSG. The pitch at Eden Gardens seemed good for batting, but Rahul was batting at 48 runs off 42 balls after 13 overs. He ended up with 79 runs off 58 balls, but his acceleration could not help the team win.
#3 8 (16) - vs. Gujarat Titans, IPL 2022
KL Rahul has struggled a lot against the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the IPL. He got out for a golden duck in his first innings against GT. In the second game, Rahul scored only eight runs off 16 balls in the powerplay overs.
Rahul hit one four in that 16-ball knock. He played a lot of dot balls at the beginning of the innings and could not convert his start into a big score. LSG got all out for just 82 runs in that match while chasing a 145-run target.
