IPL 2024: Lucknow assistant coach Lance Klusener backs skipper KL Rahul after mediocre campaign

Lucknow Super Giants’ assistant coach Lance Klusener backed captain K.L. Rahul despite the side’s topsy-turvy campaign in the ongoing Indian Premier League.

While Rahul amassed 465 runs from 13 outings at an average of 35.77 – becoming the highest run-getter for his team – his strike rate often came under the scanner. Things worsened for LSG as the middle-order lacked consistency.

“He (Rahul) is probably a little bit frustrated about his performances over the tournament. He’s had to rebuild a lot of times. We have lost wickets around him and we haven’t allowed him to play his natural game,” Klusener said on the eve of the side’s last game against Mumbai Indians.

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“It’s easy to just sit and think, ‘Oh, he hasn’t had a great tournament!’ But if you look at his numbers, they are actually not bad at all considering the circumstances that he’s had to bat. He is a great cricketer and has got the respect of the group, so in terms of his captaincy, it has been outstanding. His respect among the group is outstanding…” Klusener added.

As the team struggled, the franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka got into a public outburst on skipper Rahul after the team’s loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Though the two later caught up for dinner, there were speculations over Rahul’s future at LSG. Though Klusener did not want to talk about that episode again, the former South African all-rounder admitted that Rahul did not have much support from the middle-order.