KL Rahul will play as an Impact Player for Lucknow Super Kings as he is being eased into the side after coming from an injury.
Lucknow: KL Rahul chose not to captain Lucknow Super Giants against Punjab Kings in their IPL 2024 encounter at the Ekana Stadium on Saturday as he is being eased into the side following his injury against England in the Test series. Rahul, who was a part of the Indian squad for the five-match Test series against England, felt pain in his right quadriceps during the first Test in Hyderabad in February. Thereafter, he didn’t play in the remaining four Tests, giving himself ample time to recover.
In IPL 2024, Rahul led LSG in the first game, which they lost to Rajasthan Royals. In Rahul’s absence, vice-captain Pooran will lead LSG against Punjab Kings and also revealed the reason why Rahul didn’t come out for the toss. “KL is coming back from injury and we’re looking to give him a break in such a long tournament, but he’ll play as an impact player today,” said the West Indian.
With LSG opting to bat first, Rahul will open the batting with Quinton de Kock. However, he will not take the field in the second innings and will be substituted by an Impact Player which is going to be a bowler. Meanwhile, LSG handed debut cap to Mayank Yadav. With LSG naming only three overseas players in their starting line-up, it could be Naveen-ul-Haq swapping with Rahul.
Meanwhile against Rajasthan Royals, Rahul played like a sole warrior, scoring 58 in a loosing cause. Injury has been Rahul’s best friend since last year. The Karnataka batter injured his hamstring midway into IPL 2023 and missed the remainder of the tournament. Thereafter he underwent a surgery in the United Kingdom and returned to play a crucial role in India’s ODI World Cup journey in 2023.
The 31-year-old was one of India’s leading batters in Tests against South Africa. However, Rahul has been advised by the BCCI not to keep wickets in the initial part of IPL 2024. The last time Rahul played a T20I for India was during the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal defeat against England.
LSG vs PBKS Playing XIs
Lucknow Super Giants: Quinton de Kock, Devdutt Padikkal, KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav, M Siddharth.
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shashank Singh, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh.