Sports

Amidst the challenge of living up to Rahul’s captaincy, Lucknow’s effort to do better than last season

Lokesh Rahul has been one of the most successful batsmen in the Indian Premier League (IPL) but his captaincy skills will once again be put to test with his bat in the upcoming season. The Lucknow Super Giants team led by Rahul reached the playoffs in their inaugural season of the league last year. However, the team could not make it to the finals. Along with being dropped from the playing XI of the Test team, Rahul was stripped of the vice-captaincy across all formats. In the BCCI annual central contract, he was demoted to a lower category than before.

In such a situation, Rahul will have a challenge to prove himself not only with the bat but also as a captain. Rahul has earlier also led the Punjab Kings but then the team’s campaign ended in a disappointing manner. The Super Giants finished third in the league stage last year and were knocked out of the title race after losing to Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Eliminator. During this, Rahul scored 616 runs in 15 matches at an average of 51.33 with two centuries and four half-centuries. The team also got good support from India’s right arm fast bowler Avesh Khan during this period.

He was the most successful bowler with 18 wickets in 13 matches. However, in the upcoming season, the team will not have the support of last season’s impressive bowler Mohsin Khan in the opening matches. Mohsin, who took 14 wickets in nine matches, is recovering from a shoulder injury. The team will miss the opening two matches of experienced wicket-keeper batsman Quinton Dickock, who will be arriving in India late due to national team services. Strengths: Lucknow Super Giants have roped in West Indies wicketkeeper-batsman Nicholas Pooran this year for Rs 16 crore.

Pooran led the Caribbean team in the last T20 World Cup. Dickock will be the first choice for wicketkeeping but Pooran’s presence will give the team options. The biggest strength of the team though is the list of all-rounders. India’s Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Krishnappa Gautam, Prerak Mankad along with international all-rounders like Marcus Stoinis, Daniel Sams, Kyle Myers and Romario Shepherd are present in the team.

In the spin department, Ravi Bishnoi will be accompanied by the likes of experienced Indian bowler Amit Mishra while they have experienced pacers in Mark Wood and Jaydev Unadkat who have also performed brilliantly in major international and domestic competitions. Weakness: To continue the aggressive batting of Rahul and Dickock in the top order, the team will have to choose the right middle order batsmen. Ayush Badoni started well in the last IPL season but then saw a dip in his form.

Hooda can be impressive in the middle-order but consistent performances will be a big question for the young Indian player, who has been in and out of the national team in the shortest format for quite some time now. Chance: West Indies’ Myers or Hooda can open the innings with Rahul in the opening matches. In such a situation, both the batsmen will have a great chance to prove themselves. Young fast bowlers Yudhvir Singh Charak from Jammu and Kashmir or Yash Thakur from Vidarbha may get a chance to showcase their skills during the tournament.

Threat: There is a lack of sharpness in the team’s fast bowling. Mohsin, who was impressive last year, is out for at least five matches. Mark Wood is also often injured, in such a situation, the responsibility will be on Avesh Khan and Jaidev Unadkat. Avesh hasn’t been in the same vein as last year and Unadkat has never really had an impact in the IPL, barring the 2017 season. Yudhveer, Thakur or Mayank Yadav of Delhi are yet to experience this level of cricket.

People News Chronicle

People News Chronicle author account is for interns, who are just new to our news agency. They are taught basics of wordpress and publishing through this account.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button