'It was a No Brainer...,' KL Rahul after LSG's Second Win

image-lg6w6xl0Pandya scored a crucial 34 in chase against SRH (Source: Twitter/IPLT20)

Lucknow Super Giants leaped to the top of the IPL 2023 points table after their huge win over the Sunrisers Hyderabad. They jumped past Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings owing to a superior net run-rate, as they shrugged off their 12-run defeat to CSK earlier this week with a convincing win margin in their recent outing.

LSG all-rounder Krunal Pandya was adjudged as ‘Player of the Match’ for his efforts, as the cricketer snared three wickets with the ball and scored crucial runs in the chase.

KL Rahul describes Krunal Pandya as a Powerplay bowler

Krunal Pandya was brought in to bowl his left-arm spin within the Powerplay overs of the SRH innings. The 32-year-old instantly made impact, as he removed both SRH openers, Anmolpreet Singh and Mayank Agarwal cheaply.

The all-rounder also castled visiting captain Aiden Markram for a duck as he finished with figures of 3-18 from his four overs. Pandya also scored 34 crucial runs off just 23 balls while batting at number four for the Super Giants in the run-chase.

After the match, winning captain KL Rahul praised the senior all-rounder for his efforts. The batting veteran claimed that Pandya is better while bowling in the powerplay, which is why he brought him early in the SRH innings. He also added that it was an easy decision to bring spinner early in the Powerplay as he saw Jaydev Unadkat's cutters gripping too.

“We saw the first couple of overs when Jaydev Unadkat bowled a few cutters, it gripped. It was a no brainer to bring in a spinner early and with 2 right handers batting, the obvious thing is to bring in a left arm spinner or a leg spinner. I know Krunal Pandya is better in the powerplay so I went for him,”

Rahul also described his mindset while leading his side. The cricketer stated that he sometimes think as a batter first after seeing the pitch and then as a captain and said that in both the home games they needed to bat smartly. He praised his bowlers for restricting the SRH and said his batters adapted quite well in both their home games.

“Both (wins) were hard work. I sometimes first think as a batsman then as a captain or a leader. My first instincts looking at both the pitches was we need to bat smartly here. The bowlers will keep us in the game and win it for us. We have adapted quite well as a batting unit.”


The Lucknow Super Giants will now face RCB in an away fixture on April 10.