New Delhi: Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) assistant coach Lance Klusener on Monday asserted that team owner Sanjiv Goenka's public outburst on their skipper KL Rahul was "storm in a tea cup" and it was just a "robust discussion between two cricket lovers".
LSG suffered a humiliating defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) as the opposition chased down a target of 166 in just a span of 9.4 overs. However, the fixture was highlighted for one more issue which is KL Rahul’s strike rate. LSG posted a total of 165/4 and skipper KL Rahul played a sluggish knock of 29 runs from 33 deliveries.
Lucknow struggled to get going throughout the innings and the batters were not able to hit a boundary for the first 10 overs. The wicket looked slow in the first innings but SRH openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma toyed with the opposition bowlers while chasing the target and finished the game in just 9.4 overs.
Meanwhile, LSG owner Goenka was seen furious at the skipper for lack of intent during his knock. A video surfaced on the internet where Goenka could be seen lashing at KL Rahul. The exact reason for the reaction was not known yet but the incident caught a lot of eyeballs and many internet users reacted to it.
There have been speculations about Rahul's future as LSG skipper also, but Klusener said there has been "certainly no discussions around" the matter.
"I don't see any problem with some robust discussion between two cricket lovers. So for us, I guess it's just a storm in a teacup. We love a robust discussion. I think that's how teams get better. So, it's not a big thing for us," the South African said during the pre-match press conference.
Rahul opened the innings for the franchise despite knowing he had a great chance to get selected in the upcoming T20 World Cup if he could have batted in the middle order. However, he decided to bat at the top and has scored 460 runs but his strike-rate reads 136.09, and it has put pressure on the LSG middle-order comprising Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran.
Klusener, however, backed the senior batter. "KL has got his own unique style which has made him a fantastic player and respected around the world. I think this IPL has been exceptionally tough for him because we've kept losing wickets at stages which hasn't allowed him to kick on where he likes. He probably feels like he's always having to rebuild," he added.
"I think as a batting unit around KL, we haven't been as good as we should. It's just been extremely tough conditions for him. That's something we've chatted about as well -- we've just kept losing wickets at tough times," the former South African all-rounder quipped.
However, Klusener said a big knock from Rahul is yet to come in the ongoing season of the IPL. "Then batters coming in, seem to have to be rebuilding the whole time and not just coming into a platform. So, I think by KL's standards, he probably would have liked to have kicked on in a few more games. Probably (he) would have liked to have at least one or two hundred that haven't worked out for him. But there's still a couple of games left. He's in a good space. So, we've got our fingers crossed again for him," he said.
LSG bowling unit was at the receiving end of a brutal onslaught from Head and Abhishek Sharma, who racked up a record 167 in 9.4 overs. And Klusener admitted that his side did not execute the plans in the game against SRH.
"By the bowling unit's high standards, they didn't execute as well as they would have liked to on that surface and then you mix in two players who played absolutely beautifully and quite often that ends in a poor result for the team that doesn't bring their best skills," Klusener said.
"It was just a mix of some exceptionally hard batting and I don't think we executed our skills as well as we should have and you mix that together, it doesn't normally end well," he added.
LSG are currently in the seventh position with six wins in 12 matches with as many points, making the remaining two games a must-win contest to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
"I think we've been just a little bit inconsistent by our own high standards. We just need to deal with the fact of where we are now and make sure that we become consistent. We need to get over the line tomorrow before we can have any other aspirations," he concluded.
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