Lucknow Super Giants emerged victorious with a 10-run win over Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match on Wednesday. The victory strengthens Lucknow's case for a top 4 finish, but there remain a few things skipper Rahul and his squad still need to work on. Batting first, Lucknow only posted a total of 154 runs on the board. Despite an 87-run stand for the first wicket, Rajasthan could only reach 144 runs in 20 overs, much to the disappointment of hosts captain Sanju Samson.
At the end of the match, LSG captain Rahul joked about his own captaincy, revealing that he got hit by one of the throws by his own teammate. Hence, it looks like he hasn't got it all right with his 'captaincy'.
"I got hit by one of the throws from my teammates, so clearly doing something wrong as captain," Rahul said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Speaking of his team's total, the Karnataka-born cricketer said: "In the 10 over mark, the message me and Kyle sent out was 160 would be a good total on this track, they have some good bowlers as well who exploited the conditions. We fell 10 short but made up with the ball. And there was no dew so made it fair for both teams. We came in here yesterday and saw 180 would be a par score, but the first over from Boult, me and Kyle had a chat and realised this isn't a 180 wicket. The ball was keeping a bit low, so we gave ourselves time in the powerplay. Maybe if we played a bit better, we might have got 170 as well.
"I think that run-out from the impact player (Mishra), and two wickets falling back to back gives the opposition (his own team) a chance. We know with Rajasthan their strength is their top four, so we needed to have our plans in place to get them out," Rahul further said.
Rahul himself hasn't been in the best of form. Against the Royals, he scored a 32-ball 39 while putting an 82-run stand for the first wicket. The skipper knows that he has to score quicker runs if the franchise is to go all the way in the tournament.