On Wednesday, Lucknow Super Giants faced a massive defeat of 10 wickets against Pat Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at SRH’s home ground, Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad in the 57th match of the Indian Premier League(IPL) 2024.
It was an ordinary and frustrating performance from the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) bowlers after the opening batsman of Sunrisers Hyderabad crushed them and chased down the total in just under 10 overs.
LSG’s Bad Form With Bat and Bowl Continues
In the toss, LSG skipper and wicketkeeper KL Rahul won the toss and chose to bat first as they thought that it was a good batting pitch, but their decision backfired when they lost both their power-hitters, Quinton De Kock and Marcus Stoinis, during the powerplay. The pressure was once again inserted on the skipper, KL Rahul, who was struggling to hit a boundary or six during the powerplay, and he failed after he got out in 29 runs out of 33 balls by SRH skipper Pat Cummins, which was caught by T.Natarajan.
Hardik Pandya’s brother Krunal Pandya came into bat but was run out by Pat Cummins in 24 runs out of 21 balls with two sixes. But the partnership between the 24-year-old Indian batsman Ayush Badoni and the West Indies batsman Nicholas Pooran helped LSG post a defending total of 165 with four wickets at the end of the innings, in which Badoni scored 55 out of 30 balls with nine fours and Pooran scored 48 runs out of 26 balls with six fours and one six.
However, the openers of SRH(Sunrisers Hyderabad) made a total ridicule of the LSG bowlers after they chased down the total of 166 in just 9.4 overs. The in-form Australian World Cup winning batsman Travis Head smashed 89 runs out of 30 balls with 8 sixes and fours while on the other hand Indian batsman Abhisekh Sharma scored 75 runs out of 28 balls with 8 fours and 6 sixes.
KL Rahul stated after the match that ‘I’m lost for words. We’ve watched that batting on TV but that was unreal.Everything was hitting the middle of the bat, kudos to their skill, they’ve worked very hard on their six-hitting.’
LSG Owner Scolds skipper KL Rahul After the Defeat
After the match, the Lucknow Super Giant(LSG) owner Sanjeev Goenka who is also the owner of the famous football club Mohun Bagan Super Giant(MBSG) was seen having a heated conversation with the LSG skipper and wicket-keeper KL Rahul on the field as Goenka is bashing out on KL Rahul for the team’s performance in both batting and bowling department. Many social media users said that they should have done this behind closed doors and not on the field.
A player of such calibre KL Rahul needing to bear the wrath of the team owner on field in national media is depressing to say the least ! #pathetic
U guys are disappointed – we get it ! Talk it out in a team meeting behind closed doors fgs !
— Mahi (@mahiban4u) May 8, 2024
Many social media users criticised the LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka for bashing out on a player like KL Rahul on the field. Here some of the tweets shared by the userss who criticised Sanjiv Goenka- A twiiter user by the name of @mahiban4u stated that ‘A player of such calibre KL Rahul needing to bear the wrath of the team owner on field in national media is depressing to say the least. U guys are disappointed – we get it ! Talk it out in a team meeting behind closed doors fgs.’
Another Twitter user by the name of @VATKishore said that LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka is upset with the team’s performance, but that does not give him the liberty to criticize an experienced player like KL Rahul. Even the IPL commentators, Scott Styris and Michael Clarke, said that they should have had the conversation behind closed doors and not on the pitch.
However, it is crucial for the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to come back strong next game after this massive defeat and win the remaining of their games if they want to qualify for the IPL 2024 playoffs.
