Lucknow Super Giants mentor Gautam Gambhir has vowed that the team will “come back stronger” in the next season, he wrote on his Instagram following LSG’s loss in the Eliminator to the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Eden Gardens.
Rajat Patidar’s breathtaking century – the first by an uncapped player in an IPL playoff match – helped RCB to a gigantic total of 207, of which LSG fell 14 runs short. Skipper KL Rahul was LSG’s top-scorer scoring 79 runs off 58 balls, however, he has been copping criticism for his strike rate of 136 in chase of a total of over 200.
Gautam Gambhir has been instrumental in unearthing talents such as Ayush Badoni, charting out plans with the skipper and the coaching staff, and was often seen talking with the players during the in-game timeouts; the World Cup winner was a crucial factor in LSG’s success this season.
Taking to his Instagram, the former India batsman shared a picture of himself during a net session. “Hard luck today but a great tournament for our new team. We’ll come back stronger…. Until we meet again! @lucknowsupergiants,” Gambhir wrote in the post.
Here is Gautam Gambhir’s Instagram post:
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LSG dropped two catches – of centurion Rajat Patidar and Dinesh Karthik, who smacked 37 runs off 23 balls – and also fielded poorly. Rahul promptly cited their disappointing fielding effort as the key reason for their loss, while also hailing Patidar for his brilliant century.
“I think it’s quite obvious – the reasons why we didn’t win. We let ourselves down in the field. Dropping easy catches never helps. Difference was obviously Patidar playing such a knock. When someone in the top three scores a hundred, more often the team wins. They fielded really well and we were poor,” Rahul said in the post-match ceremony.
