Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain KL Rahul suffered a hamstring injury while fielding in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Monday in Lucknow.
KL Rahul didn’t come out to open during LSG’s innings
Going by KL Rahul‘s reaction after he sustained this injury – he was seen sweeping his hand over his face regularly – it seems like this will keep him out of action for a significant period of time.
On the last ball of the second over of RCB’s innings, Faf du Plessis cover drover Marcus Stoinis and Rahul sprinted to chase the ball. However, while the ball reached the boundary, KL , still in his run-up, began to clutch his leg and slowed down before going down on the ground.
He tried to get up but, wincing in pain, it was a futile effort. Soon the physio was out in the ground attending to the LSG captain. After a long delay, he stood up and hobbled along the boundary line and left the field.
Who is LSG’s captain now after the injury to KL Rahul?
Pandya to lead LSG in skipper’s absence: LSG had not named a vice-captain in this tournament, but with Rahul injured, senior player Krunal took the reins vs RCB and commanded the players on the field. Krunal also was the man in charge of the DRS referrals.
Commentator Mark Howard confirmed on air that it is Krunal Pandya who is doing the interim captaincy duties.
Since it is not clear the extent of KL’s injury, Pandya is currently the stand-in LSG captain. If Rahul is not fit for the upcoming matches, then we could see Krunal Pandya leading LSG. Nicholas Pooran, the former West Indies white-ball skipper, is another candidate LSG could look to for captaincy option.
Meanwhile, the LSG bowlers kept things tight and tidy and restricted RCB to 126/9 after Faf du Plessis had elected to bat first.
Teams:
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Anuj Rawat, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik(w), Suyash Prabhudessai, Wanindu Hasaranga, Karn Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): KL Rahul(c), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Nicholas Pooran(w), Krishnappa Gowtham, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Amit Mishra, Yash Thakur
