Faf du Plessis Tried To Play Mind Games With KL Rahul At The Toss:
With rain already delaying the start of the Eliminator between Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore, RCB fans had been apprehensive because if the game is entirely washed out – not even a Super Over is possible – then LSG will go through, knocking out RCB, courtesy of their superior position in the points table – 3rd to RCB’s 4th – at the end of the league stage.
Finally, however, the rain relented, and with a delay of more than half an hour, the game got underway at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
At the toss, though, there was an interesting comment by Faf du Plessis, the RCB skipper, that got the fans thinking if the South African was actually playing some mind games with LSG captain KL Rahul.
Rahul won the toss and, unsurprisingly, with the rain around, decided to field first. Rahul admitted that even if the rain wasn’t there, he’d have bowled first, wanting to know what they have to chase.
Faf du Plessis, on the other hand, revealed that he wasn’t sure what he would have done had he won the toss.
“Yeah, actually we weren’t sure what to do. I mean, I was 50-50 with the toss. It’s a used wicket. But it does look like a decent batting surface,” du Plessis said when asked of his thoughts on batting first.
Fans felt that du Plessis was tacitly thanking KL Rahul for putting them in to bat first. The main reason for that: four of RCB’s last five wins in the league stage came while batting first, setting up the total and their bowlers defending it. So, one would say that it felt right in RCB’s strengths as KL Rahul opted to bowl first.
Faf almost thanked KL for winning the toss and choosing the batting for RCB. Mind games. #IPL
— cricBC (@cricBC) May 25, 2022
Faf announced one change from their last game, a victory against Gujarat Titans: Mohammed Siraj, who was dropped, replaces Siddarth Kaul. For Lucknow, KLR ringed in a couple of changes: Krishnappa Gowtham and Jason Holder made way for Krunal Pandya and Dushmantha Chameera.
