Ravi Shastri Slams KL Rahul's Excuse On Slow Batting vs Rajasthan Royals

image-lgoodeviKL Rahul played another timid knock on Wednesday [Source: AP]

A low-scoring encounter between the Rajasthan Royals and the Lucknow Super Giants in Jaipur witnessed KL Rahul-led XI prevail by ten runs last evening in match 26 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. A disciplined bowling performance by LSG bowlers in the second half of the game stopped the Royals' juggernaut after getting off to a superb start.

An amateurish batting approach also cost Rajasthan their first game at Jaipur in four years, where they were 87 for 0 at one point and lost by a mere ten runs. All the attention, however, was on the LSG skipper batting, who scored 39 off 32 balls and faced criticism from all corners.

Rahul managed just 19 runs in the powerplay and played out a maiden over from Trent Boult. In the post-match presentation, the Indian opener responded by blaming the pitch for slow batting.

In response to Rahul's statement, former India player and coach Ravi Shastri hit back at the batter and talked about improving the strike rate.

Speaking to Star Sports, Shastri stated that Rahul needed to make use of the drop chances and convert his start into a big score.


Here's what Shastri said

"Absolutely (needs to get the strike up). All that talk about 160, I don't buy it. When you have two chances, if you convert that 39 to 60 or 70, 160 becomes 175. You need someone in the top 3 to carry on and play that long innings,

"If the Rajasthan Royals team had done that. They would have won this game. Plenty to lean from this game for both sides on how to approach and taking chances at the right time. It's still early days in the tournament. Rajasthan is No. 1 and Lucknow is No. 2 and they will learn a lot from this."

Meanwhile, former England batter Kevin Pietersen called the 31-year-old's batting in PP one of the most boring. His timid batting approach has proved costly for the Super Giants, who will take on defending champions Gujarat Titans on April 22.