IPL 2024: Lucknow Super Giants coach downplays KL Rahul-Sanjeev Goenka 'incident'

By Ovaise Shariff | First Published May 14, 2024, 2:36 AM IST

Lucknow Super Giants assistant coach Lance Klusener addresses the recent controversy surrounding KL Rahul and owner Sanjeev Goenka, dismissing speculations about a potential captaincy change.

Lucknow Super Giants assistant coach Lance Klusener played down the recent 'incident' involving KL Rahul and owner Sanjeev Goenka, dismissing rumours of a potential captaincy change. Klusener emphasized the importance of focusing on the upcoming matches, particularly the crucial encounter against Delhi Capitals. Despite a disappointing loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Klusener referred to the incident as a minor issue, highlighting the value of robust discussions in team improvement.

Regarding KL Rahul's performance, Klusener defended the captain, attributing challenges to the team's underperforming batting order. With LSG facing an uphill battle to secure a top-four finish in IPL 2024, Klusener expressed optimism and emphasised the team's focus on upcoming matches to enhance their chances of qualification."No, certainly no discussions around that [captaincy change]," Klusener said on Monday, ahead of LSG's must-win game against Delhi Capitals.

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"I don't see any problem with some robust discussion between two cricket lovers. I don't see any problem with that. 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.

"I think everybody's got their own style. KL's got his own unique style, which has made him a fantastic player not just here in India but around the world and respected around the world. I think this IPL has been exceptionally tough for him because we've kept losing wickets at poor stages, which hasn't allowed him to kick on where he liked. He probably feels like he's always having to rebuild. So I think as a batting unit around KL we haven't been as good as we should. So I think it's just been extremely tough conditions for him in that way.

"It's something we've chatted about as well is that we've just kept losing wickets at tough times and batters coming in seem to have to be rebuilding the whole time and not just coming into a platform. So by KL's high standards he probably would have liked to have kicked on in a few more games and probably would have liked to have at least one or two hundreds that haven't worked out for him. But, there's still a couple of games and he's still in a good space. So we've got our fingers crossed for him."

"We've got two games to go. It doesn't really matter what's happened in the past, whether we've won or lost, it makes no difference to us. We're focusing on the next two games. And how best we can get over the line in both of them. Whether we then qualify or not, I guess, that's of our making from the way we played. But, our focus really is just to getover the line tomorrow and then we'll worry about Mumbai after that," the 52-year-old said.

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