One of the most contentious subject matters in the 2024 version of Indian Premier League was a heated exchange between Sanjiv Goenka, owner of Lucknow Super Giants and skipper KL Rahul.
Lucknow’s loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad as they chased down the score of 166 within 9.4 overs by winning it by 10 wickets was when the incident happened.
When LSG played against SRH, Goenka was caught on camera arguing with Rahul. It was not long before this became a hot topic among cricket pundits and fans. Speaking about an infamous episode during his interview on YouTuber Shubhankar Mishra show ‘Unplugged,’ LSG spinner Amit Mishra spilled some beans that were never known before.
Mishra explained that what had angered Goenka were two consecutive losses by LSG. LSG’s lost to KKR led to a defeat margin of 98 runs while their match against SRH lasted for only ten overs.
“He (Goenka) was disappointed. We lost two back-to-back matches very badly. Against KKR, we lost by some 90-100 runs and against SRH, the match was finished within 10 overs. It felt like we were bowling them during a net practice session. If I am so angry about it, will someone who has actually put money into the team not feel angry?” He said in the podcast.
Mishra tried to play down how intense their standoff with Rahul seemed as he hinted that there might have been media exaggeration.
“It wasn’t such a big deal. But later I came to know that he said that bowling was very bad and team should have shown some fight spirit. It looked like you had completely surrendered. But I feel people and the media hyped it up a bit,” He added.
Speculation is rife over KL Rahul future with LSG suggesting that he might not be retained for the IPL 2025. However, no official statements have been made by either the team or Rahul.
“Whether he is in Indian team or not does not matter. But T20s need someone who thinks like that and has a right mentality for T20s should be captain. Someone who plays for the team should be captain. I am sure LSG will look for a better captain,” Mishra stated.
