0
0
KL Rahul, the captain of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), disobeyed the National Cricket Academy (NCA) prior to the team’s Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 opener.
Rahul refused to comply, even though the NCA had cleared him to play this season as a specialist batter.
The 31-year-old batsman suffered a quadriceps injury in the first Test match against England in Hyderabad, which has kept him out of play.
The next four games in the series, which India won handily 4-1, were consequently forfeited by him.
The LSG captain was cleared to join the Indian Premier League following his recovery at the NCA in Bengaluru.
Notably, during the second half of the 2023 Indian Premier League, the wicketkeeper-batter returned to the Lucknow team following an injury layoff.
While Rahul met the fitness requirements, the NCA advised against his taking up wicketkeeping responsibilities.
Interestingly, he did not keep stumps in the last two Indian Premier League seasons; Nicholas Pooran and Quinton de Kock did.
Read Also: Rishabh Pant Grateful for Life: Returns to Lead Delhi Capitals
KL Rahul was spotted exercising his wicket keeping skills in a video that the Lucknow Super Giants posted on their social media account, X, which was formerly known as Twitter.
Rahul could be seen practising catches with wicket keeping gloves in the video.
During the IPL 2022 season, Rahul made his debut for LSG and went on to score 616 runs at an astounding average of 51.33 and a strike rate of 135.38, which included two hundreds and four fifties.
But he scored 274 runs with a pitiful strike rate of 113.22 in the most recent season.
In the IPL 2024, MSK Prasad thinks KL Rahul would succeed as a player and a leader.
According to Prasad, Rahul might be able to play with more freedom this season thanks to Langer’s coaching.
“How he (Langer) shapes KL Rahul is going to be the most important factor.” Alternatively, they have been communicating on a daily basis for the past three months.
Rahul has captained the Indian squad and served as vice captain, but he occasionally holds himself back.
Thus, MSK Prasad predicted that we will witness a different KL Rahul in the next season given Justin Langer’s arrival to the LSG team.
“Hopefully, Team India will also get the benefits. He is unquestionably an excellent wicketkeeper.
He played in the World Cup six to seven months after the injury, and his performance with the bat and gloves says a lot about him. Rahul is a person who prefers to be alone.
He isn’t one to express himself much outside of work, but maybe Langer’s influence will bring out the best in him. We’re hoping to find KL a new captain for the future,” he added.
On Sunday, March 24, the KL Rahul-led club will play Rajasthan at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur to begin their IPL 2024 campaign.
With Andy Flower and Gautam Gambhir departing, the Lucknow-based team will start the season with a new coaching staff.
