Release the handbrake: KL Rahul and LSG can still salvage their season

Last Wednesday, KL Rahul and the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) were in the news for all the wrong reasons. They got smashed by the Sunrisers Hyderabad, losing with more than 10 overs to spare, and their owner then gave Rahul a fair piece of his mind. If, by any chance, you had missed that entire exchange, or the carnage that preceded it, it is likely social media clips and reels would have filled that particular void.

A defeat in the IPL, especially for a playoff-chasing team, is often put down as a bad day. But things went so south, that that description would have been a glowing assessment of what LSG managed on that evening in Hyderabad.

If LSG had very apparent holes to plug, and if they did not have any quality in their side, that sort of defeat would not have hurt as much, because somewhere, they might have been resigned to their fate.

But cast a quick glance at the squad and the firepower they have, and things should not be this bad. Things must not be this bad.

If you look around the IPL, there are worse squads than what LSG have, and this is with all due respect to the others. A side that has two gifted batters (Rahul and Quinton de Kock) opening the batting, an Indian all-rounder (Deepak Hooda) who bats in the top order and was a part of the T20I setup not long ago, a bruising Australian batter (Marcus Stoinis) and a gracefully powerful West Indian (Nicholas Pooran) – this is the sort of batting line-up that should be grabbing this IPL by the scruff of its neck.

KL Rahul and LSG have struggled with their tempo in IPL 2024

Instead, they have scored at 8.88 runs per over throughout the season – the second-lowest of all teams. When batting first, that number has come down to 8.8 – which is the third lowest among all teams. In a season where the 200-run mark has been breached 36 times, LSG have only managed to do so once – that too when their hand was forced away to the Chennai Super Kings.

These numbers do not make for pleasant reading, especially if you are a fan of the Super Giants. It may seem a bit skewed, given the tracks in Lucknow have not always been conducive to stroke-play, but even on their travels, LSG have lacked the tempo or the bravado to put teams under pressure.

That was evident against SRH in Hyderabad last Wednesday. When the visitors batted, the pitch looked tacky, sticky and all such adjectives. As soon as SRH came out to bat, it looked a flat deck. Dew may or may not have played a part, but the intent to score and hit boundaries certainly did.

This particular rut starts from the top of the order. Rahul has, at times this season, shown an inclination to be more cavalier inside the powerplay. In recent matches, though, Rahul has retreated into his shell, especially as push has come to shove.

Quinton de Kock’s lack of runs have not helped Rahul and LSG. Either way, though, the missing impetus, often with Rahul at the crease, has had a knock-on effect, with the likes of Pooran and Stoinis having too much to do.

All of these problems are well-documented. In fact, the LSG team management also knows it, and that is what probably forced assistant coach Lance Klusener to issue a rallying call mid-way through the season, asking them to be more courageous with the bat.

But having reverted to the mean since, the question now is: what do LSG do?

They could optimise match-ups, ensure there is a left-right pairing at all times to attack all types of bowlers. They could rejig their batting order, pushing Stoinis and Pooran further up to have more of an impact.

Or, they can do the simpler thing and just be…brave.

Tournaments like the IPL are not won by teams that sit back, hoping for something to happen. They are won by sides that make something happen, and seize the initiative whenever it is there to be seized.

LSG, as things stand, are in the qualification doldrums. Playing it safe has left them not in control of their destiny, and could possibly lead to elimination, summing up a stuttering, stumbling – and at the cost of a better word – a timid campaign.

LSG are not that team. Or rather, they should not be that team. Not with all the batting quality they have. Each of de Kock, Stoinis and Pooran invoke fear whenever they play international cricket and other T20 franchise leagues, and Rahul, when he sets his mind to it, is still one of the best stroke-makers in India.

They currently resemble a glitzy sports car, assembled pretty expensively, that has rocked up on an unknown terrain and is content to move along in second or third gear with their palms always feeling for the handbrake, preparing for a hair-pin bend that is just not there.

They seem too worried about the chicanes, and almost seem to have forgotten that this IPL has become a straight-line sprint, where the highest speed you can get up to has gained more relevance than how you can wriggle through the curves.

Thus, the swifter they release the handbrake, the closer they could get to salvaging their season. It should not have come to this point, but it has, and now that it has, this feels the only possible solution. And it has to come from Rahul, their premier opener and captain.

And the best part is, they are very capable of doing this. A batting line-up of de Kock, Rahul, Pooran and Stonis is very capable of this. But only if they shed their fear and conservatism, and embrace the IPL for what it has been this season. Once that happens, LSG will be in the news for all the right reasons.

And the assessment of them having a bad day will actually make sense, because the good day will be really good, and a much-needed deviation from what has otherwise been the mean.