“You have to stick to what works best for you.” This is what KL Rahul said after his side, Lucknow Super Giants, lost their previous match, against Punjab Kings, who chased down 160 with 3 balls remaining after LSG posted an under-par score. KL Rahul, in that match, scored 74 runs off 56 balls, with a strike rate of 132.
He has been getting trolled a lot over the past three years about his strike rate. He was trolled in that last match, and of his statement after the loss. He got trolled again today, for his slow-ish knock of 39 runs off 32 balls, against the Rajasthan Royals, on a decent track in Jaipur.
KL Rahul and Kyle Mayers batted at a similar rate and were both slow. While at the end of the last game, the LSG skipper had asserted that Mayers is the aggressive guy, it didn’t look today as both of their innings ended at a strike rate of 121.
Their opening partnership, of 82 runs in 10.4 overs, kept RR equal in the match despite LSG not losing a wicket for 10 overs.
KL Rahul cracked 4 fours and 1 six in his knock, but rest of the balls, he didn’t show much intent at all. He played out a maiden in the first over from Trent Boult, and at the end of the powerplay, LSG were 37/0 with KLR on a run-a-ball 19 after being dropped twice in the powerplay.
He got out trying to hit Jason Holder for a big hit, mistiming his loft straight to Jos Buttler at long-on.
He was even trolled by Kevin Pietersen on commentary.
Fans trolled KL Rahul with hilarious memes on his slow innings today vs RR:
KL Rahul is bit confused.
ODI strike rate in T20.
Test match strike rate in ODI.
T20 average in test match.— Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats) April 19, 2023
🗣 "Watching KL Rahul bat in the powerplays is the most boring thing I have ever been through."
:said Kevin Pietersen on air.#RRvsLSG pic.twitter.com/2u1HtT2ZXd
— Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu) April 19, 2023
KL Rahul in first over of T20s pic.twitter.com/wpTlzevxFi
— Pushkar (@musafir_hu_yar) April 19, 2023
feel like KL Rahul has accepted that this is how he'll play t20s, no matter what, so it's useless to expect him to play the way he did in 2018
— 🍺 (@anubhav__tweets) April 19, 2023
KL rahul got out
Gautam Gambhir: pic.twitter.com/s0JyAcC5t7
— Pulkit🇮🇳 (@pulkit5Dx) April 19, 2023
https://twitter.com/KroosBlancos/status/1648694442520641537?s=20
When you open with KL Rahul, you bat for 19 overs.
— 🚀🚀 (@ArrestJude) April 19, 2023
Stoinis : bro required runrate is almost 13.
KL Rahul : pic.twitter.com/mkoFLEy9Wh
— B🅰️rle-G (@Hero_Zumour) April 10, 2023
Just B KL Rahul Things 🔥💪 pic.twitter.com/TayK7HzHQq
— Siddhartha Patel 🔥 (@Siddhu__94) April 10, 2023
Gautam Gambhir reaction after KL Rahul wicket 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/Tm1x0KQdca
— supremo (@hyperkohli) April 10, 2023
https://twitter.com/D4nAfc/status/1645472947270983680?s=20
"is KL Rahul ko shayad mai jaanta nahin hoon" – RP Singh 😹😹😹 pic.twitter.com/wHjgB8TIs1
— K Pinkman (@Koksalviz) April 19, 2023
KL Rahul's trademark maiden over. #KLRahul #IPL2O23 pic.twitter.com/vKV1cCiQjn
— Aayush Mishra (@achha_insaan) April 19, 2023
LSG finished their innings at 159/8 which might seem 10 runs short of par total and RR would fancy their chances.
Today’s Playing XI for RR vs LSG:
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jason Holder, Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): KL Rahul(c), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Nicholas Pooran(w), Ayush Badoni, Naveen-ul-Haq, Avesh Khan, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Ravi Bishnoi
