"If this doesn't wake KL up to the style of cricket he needs to play, I don't know what will"- Mitchell McClenaghan criticizes KL Rahul's knock vs SRH

New Zealand pacer Mitchell McClenaghan slammed Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) skipper KL Rahul's slow-paced 33-ball 29-run and his timid batting style in general after the side's 10-wicket defeat to SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Wednesday, May 9. Winning the toss and batting first, LSG lost two early wickets in Quinton de Kock and Marcus Stoinis. It led to Rahul going into his shell and grinding out a painstaking innings before throwing it away in the final ball of the 10th over.

The score read 57/3 at the halfway stage with Rahul's dismissal and LSG had to play out of their skins to recover and finish on 165/4 in 20 overs. Meanwhile, SRH went after the bowling from the get-go in their run chase and completed the task in a mere 9.4 overs without losing a wicket.

Following the game, McClenaghan slammed Rahul for lacking intent and trust in those coming after him to do the job.

"If this doesn't wake KL up to the style of cricket he needs to play going forward to be successful and to continue playing for India, I don't know what will. He can do it. He has got to get past, very similar to what we've seen with Virat (Kohli), the feeling of ' You're the only person that can score runs'. And he's got to go, right, I need to score runs but if I am going to miss out, it's okay," McClenaghan said on ESPNcricinfo.

"Trust the other guys to do the job. It looks like he's carrying the whole team on his back thinking that if he doesn't bat the innings, they are not going to get a score. So, if he does get out like tonight, they're a long way behind where they need to be," he added.

Rahul has often come under criticism for his tentative approach to batting in the shortest format.

The 32-year-old has amassed 460 runs thus far this IPL season, yet the strike rate of 136.09 is below-par going by the current T20 benchmark for an opener.

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"Don't see any harm in Dravid and Rohit saying 'We're not going to drop you if you have this intent" - Mitchell McClenaghan

Mitchell Mclenaghan felt KL Rahul's batting tempo and lack of intent are fixable if the leadership core of LSG, and even Team India instill confidence in the stylish batter.

Despite possessing a tremendous skillset, the 32-year-old has often come unstuck in his strike rate when the team loses wickets at the other end. Rahul has a strike rate under 140 in his T20I and IPL career.

"It's going to take a really good coach and a good coaching structure or management to give him the confidence that it's okay to fail and we're not going to drop you. And Even that message coming from the top, I don't see any harm in Dravid and Rohit saying 'We're not going to drop you if you have this intent ( attacking) all the time because we know it takes some time for you to change the style of play," said McClenaghan.

"But if they can unlock that from top down, India down, they can unlock that in KL Rahul. He's one of the best batters going around and he will bounce back from this," he concluded.

The crushing defeat to SRH meant LSG's playoff chances took a massive hit, with the side on 12 points in as many games and stumbling to sixth on the points table.

KL Rahul's and company will next take on the Delhi Capitals (DC) in a crucial encounter on Tuesday, May 14.