Former Indian spinner Pragyan Ojha feels that Kings XI Punjab captain KL Rahul is not playing as usual and has been weighed down by pressure from a rather fragile middle class on his team in the current edition of the Premier League. India. On Thursday, KXIP suffered its fifth loss of the season against Sunrisers Hyderabad, and the lack of experience was visible in their batting lineup.
Read also | Total IPL coverage 2020
“In the last game, and in this game we also saw that KL Rahul was not comfortable with the way he was hitting. We’ve seen before that he just came out, he hit the way he wanted to, pure magic. But the last two games, I don’t know that he wasn’t there, ”Ojha told Sports Today.
Read also | ‘Either he has to be sidelined or give him just one more game’, Kevin Pietersen believes the star off-roader should be removed from Kings XI Punjab’s lineup
Rahul is hitting well so far in the tournament and is firmly holding his claim in the orange cap with 313 runs in six starts. He’s scoring runs at a hit rate of 136.68, but his power play hit rate (113.3) is a point of concern for team management.
“I think I was just trying to play because I knew the middle order isn’t doing well, that pressure and this game you know when you have over 200 runs to chase, any hitter would feel the pressure. And Rahul knows that if he and Mayank don’t do well, they have a fragile middle order. Anil Kumble mentioned Chris Gayle, they wanted him to play but he wasn’t right, “said Ojha.
Read also | ‘Any captain will say,’ give me that bowler, ‘Sunil Gavaskar names the bowler’ every franchise wants’
Glenn Maxwell has been unable to share the burden on Rahul’s shoulder. The Australian off-roader has managed just 48 runs in six matches and struggled to find his rhythm. There were expectations that he would replicate his exploits from the previous edition, but another low score on Thursday has put his place in jeopardy.
“The message was very clear that they weren’t happy with Maxwell. It’s a clear statement if Chris Gayle walks in, Maxwell leaves. KXIP has been unlucky, but KL Rahul was not the ‘KL’ we’ve seen so far, ”concluded Ojha.
.
