I don't buy itRavi Shastri responds to KL Rahul's reasoning for slow batting on Jaipur pitch in LSG's win vs RR

By India Today Sports DeskFormer India captain and head coach Ravi Shastri dismissed KL Rahul’s assessment of the pitch at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium during Lucknow Super Giants’ win over Rajasthan Royals in an IPL 2023 match on Wednesday, April 19.

In the season’s first match in Jaipur, Lucknow Super Giants managed just 154 on the board in 20 overs and successfully defended it too as Rajasthan Royals fell short of the total by 10 runs. On a sluggish pitch, LSG bowlers were on top of their mark as they contained a powerful batting line-up of the home team.

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KL Rahul played out a maiden over after RR won the toss and opted to field as he was cautious against Trent Boult. Rahul managed just 19 runs in as many balls in the powerplay where LSG scored 37 for 0. His batting partner Kyle Mayers also took his time but the duo accelerated after the end of the fielding restrictions. They added 82 runs in 64 balls for the opening wicket before Rahul fell while trying to go for a big shot.

Rahul was disappointed when he got out for 39 from 32 balls as he had got two lifelines — two dropped catches, one when he was on 6 and the other when he was on 12 in the powerplay. Luckily, it did not cost LSG as Rajasthan batters also struggled for timing on a two-paced pitch where the bounce was also low.

Rahul, speaking after the win, said that both him and Mayers figured out that the pitch was not suited for scoring 180 but 160-165 would be a competitive total.

Responding to Rahul’s assessment of the pitch, Ravi Shastri said the skipper needed to have made use of the dropped catches and pushed on to get a 60-70 score to give the team a bit more cushion, while highlighting the missed opportunity for Rajasthan Royals.

“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,” Ravi Shastri told Star Sports.

“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,” he added.

Notably, Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal added 87 for the opening partnership which came 11.3 overs but both the openers failed to kick on and finish the game. It became increasingly difficult for the newcomers to get going as the asking rate shot up and LSG ended up winning the contest.

Rajasthan had an opportunity to break away from the chasing pack but their 3-match unbeaten run was broken by LSG, who moved level on 8 points in the IPL 2023 points table.