Disquiet in LSG over not-so-happy chat in public between owner Sanjiv Goenka and captain KL Rahul after crushing defeat

LSG captain KL Rahul and owner Sanjiv Goenka

LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka and KL Rahul were involved in an animated discussion after LSG’s 10-wicket loss against SRH. (Screengrab)

THERE IS disquiet in the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) camp after visuals of team owner Sanjiv Goenka in what appeared to be a not-so-happy animated discussion with captain KL Rahul did the rounds of social media following the team’s 10-wicket thrashing by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL match on Wednesday.

Speculation was rife about Rahul’s long-term future with the Lucknow franchise that is now placed sixth in the 10-team points table and has two more league matches to play this season.

After the game, as cameras on the ground zoomed in on Goenka and Rahul, commentator and former South Africa captain Graeme Smith suggested that the “emotions are all over”. “You always feel that these conversations should happen behind closed doors. There are so many cameras around, they miss nothing. Rahul is not gonna go and do press-conferences and probably potentially explain what is being discussed here,” Smith said.

The Indian Express understands that much of the talk between the owner and the captain centred around LSG’s approach with the bat. On the high scoring Hyderabad ground, LSG managed only 165/4 in 20overs. In response, SRH openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma overhauled the target in just 9.4 overs. While Head and Abhishek went at a strike rate of 296.66 and 267.85 respectively, Rahul went at 87.87.

KL Rahul (c) of Lucknow Super Giants during match 57 of the Indian Premier League season 17 (IPL 2024) between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Lucknow Super Giants held at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on the 8th May 2024. (Sportzpics)

A couple of members from the LSG travelling party said the owners questioned the team’s style of play and pointed out that the intent was missing. To make it worse, the heavy defeat shrunk LSG’s net run-rate and this meant that their fate in the tournament would now depend on the results of the other games.

A day after the controversy, despite the heavy atmosphere in the team, it was business as usual.

In in formal team meetings, it is learnt that Rahul went about his routine as usual. But behind closed doors, there were conversations about Rahul’s association with LSG going forward.

After acquiring the franchise by paying a record sum of Rs 7,090 crore in 2021, LSG picked Rahul in a pre-auction deal for Rs 17 crore. The team, under Rahul, had finished third in 2022 and 2023.

Goenka, during his time as owner of the Rising Pune Supergiants (now defunct), had removed MS Dhoni as captain and replaced him with Steve Smith after the team finished seventh in 2016.

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