It has been a tough few days for K L Rahul. First, the stylish batsman missed out on a place in the Indian squad for next month's T20 World Cup as the selectors preferred Sanju Samson as the second wicketkeeper-batter over him for the mega event.
Rahul, who is the captain of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in IPL 2024, has seen his side fall behind in the race for the playoffs. The crushing 10-wicket defeat at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday night leaves them in sixth place with 12 points from as many games.
It was a game to forget for Rahul as he managed just 29 from 33 balls after opting to bat in Hyderabad. The SRH openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head made a mockery of the 166-run target as they romped home in just 9.4 overs.
To make matters worse, LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka made his displeasure known to Rahul immediately after the game. The discussion in the dugout was captured by the TV cameras and did not go down well with the the fans and experts as they felt such conversations should have taken place behind closed doors. To Rahul's credit, he kept his emotions under control.
One can only hope that Rahul comes back stronger and takes his team to the playoffs with wins in the remaining couple of games.
