Former Australian pacer and 2012 IPL winner with Kolkata Knight Riders – Brett Lee feels this Lucknow Super Giants Captain KL Rahul is under immense pressure.
Brett Lee made these comments about KL Rahul after watching him score 25 runs off 21 balls as Lucknow unsuccessfully tried to post a mammoth 236. LSG had hosted Kolkata Knight Riders at the Ekana Stadium for the second leg yesterday evening. After achieving this goal, the visitors finally claimed victory and completed the double over LSG with a 98-run win.
What did Brett Lee say about KL Rahul?
When Brett Lee spoke to Jio Cinema after Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Lucknow Super Giants, he had a few things to say about KL Rahul. Lee first highlighted Rahul’s slow approach and compared his 25-run score with that of the KKR openers. He claimed that there is a contrasting difference between Rahul’s and Salt-Narine’s approach.
Brett Lee then admitted that KL Rahul played extremely slowly from the start of the game and scored runs at a run-a-ball pace. Rahul’s slow approach, in turn, completely affected the game for LSG as the following batters quickly gave away their wicket and tried to smear every single ball.
The former right-arm pacer then claimed that KL Rahul was under immense pressure for failing to score runs in IPL 2024. If we talk about Rahul’s numbers this season, then he has scored 431 runs in 11 league games so far at a strike rate of 141.31. He averages 39.18 and has three half-centuries to his credit.
Due to his poor form and slow approach, Rahul was not selected by the Indian top selection committee for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024. Instead of including him as a wicket-keeper batsman, the selectors opted for Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson and Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant in the 15-man squad.
“I think if you look at the two opening batters from both sides, it’s a complete contrast. KKR did it right. They come out of the blocks quickly, they score runs. And then you have KL Rahul on the other side.”, which means running a ball and putting a lot of pressure on the back end.
“You know, we watched four games and I picked KL Rahul here, the first four games he played. His strike rate was 129, then it went up to 150 and now he’s come back and said, ‘Well, you know the bowlers.’ “I think he’s under a lot of pressure because he hasn’t scored the runs he should have,” Brett Lee said on Jio Cinema.
Rahul throws light on the heavy 98-run defeat
While speaking in the post-match interview, KL Rahul shed light on his team’s chaotic 98-run defeat. He claimed that LSG was weak in all departments and that there were far too many runs on the board to score. “We didn’t (consistently hit our lengths), but just a poor overall performance with the bat, ball and on the field.” – Rahul said.