Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul has urged his players to put the team before their personal milestones. As the adage goes, ‘There is nothing like natural game and one has to play according to the match situation in a team sport like cricket’. Rahul wants his players to follow the same mantra in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League.
The right-hander also feels the team has good middle-order batters, which will help him play aggressively at the top of the order and make the most of the powerplay overs. It was noted that Rahul was a bit sedate in his batting style when he played for Punjab Kings.
Meanwhile, KL Rahul has been a consistent performer in the IPL, especially in the last couple of seasons. Rahul has amassed 3273 runs in 94 IPL matches at an impressive average of 47.43 and a strike rate of 138.36. Ergo, the flamboyant batter will look to continue the same form for the Lucknow franchise.
Rahul had scored 626 runs in 13 matches in the previous season for PBKS and he would want to be at his best for LSG.
On the other hand, Lucknow Super Giants were able to rope in players like Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, and Deepak Hooda, who will add strength to their middle-order.
“As far as the end numbers are concerned, I’d be happy if I can do the same thing as the last 3-4 seasons. But this is one of my learnings as a leader; having good and powerful players in the lower-middle order is really important for the team to be successful in the long run. That is why we have picked the likes of Stoinis, Jason Holder, Krunal Pandya, and Deepak Hooda in the middle order,” Rahul told Sports Tak.
“When your middle and lower-middle order is strong, it will give freedom to the openers to be aggressive in the first six. So yes, I play that role and I’ll try to capitalize on the powerplay and get the team off to a good start. But at the same time, I’ve been a player who always tries to play the situation. I don’t confine myself to a single role. If you need 130-140 runs to win, what’s the point of playing at a strike rate of 200?”
Rahul added that playing according to the match situation is vital for the team’s success.
“I always think about how can I win the match for the team. I encourage my players to play the same way. We would be aggressive but we would put team ahead of the personal game. Here, no one can say ‘this is the only way I can play, this is my natural game’. That is not how a team game should be played,” said the LSG captain.
The Super Giants will begin their campaign against Gujarat Titans at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
