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Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) assistant coach Lance Klusener has addressed the recent viral incident involving team owner Sanjiv Goenka and captain KL Rahul. The cricketing world was set abuzz after footage showed Goenka in an animated conversation with Rahul, presumably reprimanding him following LSG’s devastating loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) last Wednesday. This has led to rumors and speculation about Rahul’s future as the LSG skipper.
Lance Klusener reacts on the viral incident
Speaking to the media a day before LSG’s critical league stage match against Delhi Capitals (DC), Klusener dismissed the significance of the incident. He characterized it as a ‘robust discussion’ and suggested it was not a major issue.
“I don’t see any problem with some robust discussion between two cricket lovers. For us, I guess, it’s just a storm in a teacup. We love a robust discussion, I think that’s how teams get better. So, it’s not a big thing for us,” Klusener explained.
The heavy defeat to SRH
In their match against SRH, LSG managed to post only 165 at the board in Hyderabad, where the track is considered batting friendly. SRH’s in-form openers then chased down the target in a mere 9.4 overs, handing LSG a crushing 10-wicket defeat. This loss significantly hurt LSG’s net run-rate and complicated their chances of qualifying for the playoffs.
Also READ: IPL 2024 – Mohammed Shami criticizes LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka for publicly confronting KL Rahul
LSG’s playoff hopes in jeopardy
With only 12 points from 12 games, LSG faces a tough road ahead to secure a top-four finish. They must win both of their remaining matches against DC and Mumbai Indians (MI) convincingly to improve their net run-rate, which currently stands at -0.769. Additionally, they need favorable results from other matches to boost their playoff chances.
Meanwhile, Klusener emphasized the importance of focusing on the immediate task (the matches against Delhi and Mumbai) and not dwelling on past setbacks.
“We’ve got two games to go. It doesn’t really matter what’s happened in the past, whether we’ve won or lost, it makes no difference to us. We’re focusing on the next two games and how best we can get over the line in both of them. Whether we then qualify or not, I guess, that’s of our making from the way we played. But our focus really is just to get over the line tomorrow and then we’ll worry about Mumbai after that,” Klusener added.
