KL Rahul, captain of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), stated prior to their match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) that it was ‘unfortunate’ that Quinton de Kock had to miss contests. Match 26 of the ongoing IPL 2023 featured Sanju Samson’s Royals and LSG at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
KL Rahul and De Kock were LSG’s regular opening tandem for the duration of the 2022 season. Moreover, LSG relied heavily on its top two scorers, as they scored the majority of the team’s runs.
However, De Kock has not played a single match since his international assignment with South Africa came to an end. Meanwhile, explosive all-rounder Kyle Mayers has been regularly featured in the starting XI and has displayed remarkable performances for the franchise.
Mayers scored consecutive half-centuries in the first two games of the season against DC and CSK with scores of 73 and 53 runs, respectively, and has performed well with the ball. In light of the fact that there are only four spots for overseas players in an IPL playing XI, Rahul deemed it ‘unfortunate’ that De Kock was sitting on the sideline.
“It’s regrettable that a player like Quinton must sit out. However, only four foreign athletes [per XI] are permitted to participate in this competition. He will simply have to wait a little longer. Kyle is performing very well. It is somewhat regrettable. You feel terrible. “I’ve enjoyed playing and opening with Quinton, but he’s not playing at the moment,” Rahul said during the toss prior to the RR-LSG match.
The wicketkeeper-batsman from South Africa scored 508 runs at an average of 36.28 and a strike rate of 148.97 during the 2022 season of the lucrative division. He scored three half-centuries and a century in the lucrative T20 league and will aim to come out swinging when he plays for the team in this edition.
Rahul’s poor performance in powerplay against RR persists.
KL Rahul, who has received his fair share of criticism for being sluggish in the powerplay, once again failed to capitalize in the first six overs of the April 19 match against Rajasthan Royals. At the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, Rahul could only score 39 runs in 32 deliveries, which included four fours and one six, for an average strike rate of 121.88.
Not only that, but he also played a boundary off Trent Boult’s first over of the innings. In the eleventh over, he eventually fell victim to Jason Holder, who was caught by Jos Buttler to give Rajasthan their first breakthrough.
