IPL 2022 | 'KL Rahul needs to bat quicker rather than longer' - Sanjay Manjrekar

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has criticised Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul for his' bat longer' approach against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Wednesday (May 25) at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.  

Chasing the mammoth target of 208, the Super Giants fell short of the total by 14 runs. Skipper Rahul topped the batting charts for LSG as he scored 79 off 58 balls but failed to take his team past the finish line in a crucial run-chase. The Lucknow captain was dismissed in the penultimate over of the chase, which tumbled Lucknow's hope of making it to Qualifier 2. 

The former Indian cricketer turned commentator, in a recent conversation with ESPNCricinfo, came hard on Rahul's strike rate and highlighted how he cost his team in some crunch run-chases by following a 'bat deeper than quicker' approach. 

"Quinton de Kock's wicket was very crucial because that would have taken the pressure off KL Rahul. KL Rahul's innings is something that we have seen before; when he was captain of Punjab Kings, the team would fall short of a run chase," Manjrekar told Cricinfo.

"And the scenario would be the same. You will have a KL Rahul bat till the very end, they would have lost three or four wickets, and people like Pooran would come in, like Evin Lewis came in the last two overs, Krunal and Stoinis towards the last, so it's like working with the crumbs and you have to come in and make up for the lack of the pace the innings had," Manjrekar added.  

Rahul, while chasing, provided a much-needed start to the team after a quick dismissal of de Kock as he helped Lucknow post 62 in the powerplay. However, Rahul slowed down in the next 7 overs, smashing just one boundary, with the asking rate touching the sky. 

Manjrekar, further speaking on the LSG skipper's batting approach, said that he has a 'deep-rooted issue' when it comes to scoring quick runs for his teams in the Indian Premier League and if he had been his coach, he would have set him free.

"KL Rahul himself can do that. You see every time he decided to play the big shot, it came off. He played a couple of terrific shots against [Josh] Hazlewood. He can do it when he wants to but he just has this very deep-rooted belief, or an attitude, or an approach, that he wants to bat longer rather than quicker.

"If I was his coach, I would just take that decision out of his hand even if he's the captain, for we've seen a lot of games where the teams would benefit immensely if KL Rahul just batted quicker rather than longer," Manjrekar concluded. 

KL Rahul finished his IPL 2022 campaign as the second-highest run-scorer with 616 runs from 15 matches at an average of 51.33 and a strike rate of 135.38. He has been one of the most consistent run-scorers in the recent past in the IPL, crossing the 600-run mark in 4 of the last 5 seasons.