Decoding KL Rahul's strike-rate woes in IPL 2023
Lucknow Super Giants suffered an agonizing seven-run defeat versus Gujarat Titans in Match 30 of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL). Chasing 136, LSG were on the driver's seat for a major part but astonishingly lost momentum toward the end. Skipper KL Rahul's 61-ball 68 is seen as a major reason behind this defeat. Here we decode his strike rate woes.
Why does this story matter?
Rahul has been a prolific run-getter in the IPL. Though Rahul has scored 590-plus runs in each of the last five IPL seasons, his strike rate has often come under the scanner. The LSG skipper has been among the runs in IPL 2023 too but his intent has not impressed fans, experts, and pundits. His knock against GT has significantly added to his criticism.
Decoding Rahul's knock against GT
Interestingly, Rahul started off LSG's chase positively and played some brilliant shots in the Powerplay. He faced 19 deliveries in the powerplay and gathered 30 runs. The opener significantly slowed down in overs between seven and 15, gathering 28 off 26 balls. LSG could not chase down 30 in the last five overs as Rahul managed just 10 off 16 balls in this phase.
Unwanted record for Rahul
As per Cricbuzz, Rahul's strike rate of 111.48 in the last is the third-lowest among batters who have faced at least 60 balls in an IPL innings. Only JP Duminy (93.65) and Aaron Finch (109.68) are ahead of him on this unwanted list.
Rahul's numbers this season
With 262 runs in seven games, Rahul is currently the fourth-leading run-getter in IPL 2023. However, his strike rate of 113.91 is the lowest among batters with at least 150 runs. While this year's IPL has seen runs flowing in powerplay overs, Rahul's strike rate in this stage reads 117.92. His SR further drops down to 110.48 after the field gets opened up.
His strike in recent IPL seasons
2018 was Rahul's breakthrough IPL season as he smothered 659 runs that year at a brilliant strike rate of 158.41. 135.38, 129.34, 138.80, and 135.38 read his strike in the following four seasons as Rahul was seemingly keener on playing the anchor's role. What has been significantly missing this year is his ability to make up for slow scoring after getting set.
Fastest fifty in IPL
Ironically, Rahul, whose intent has been a hot topic of discussion, owns the fastest fifty in IPL. He reached the milestone off just 14 balls against Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2018. Rahul used to play for Punjab Kings back then.
A look at his overall IPL numbers
As mentioned, Rahul's overall IPL numbers are staggering. He has clocked 4,151 runs in 116 IPL matches at an impressive average of 47.17. While his strike rate reads 134.55, he owns four tons and 33 fifties in the format. The LSG skipper recently became the fastest batter to complete 4,000 IPL runs, achieving the feat in 105 innings. He surpassed Chris Gayle (112 innings).
How did the match pan out?
Batting first in Lucknow, Gujarat lost Shubman Gill (0) cheaply before Wriddhiman Saha (47) and Hardik Pandya (66) came to the rescue. The rest of the batters could not do much as the Titans were restricted to 135/6. In response, Rahul's effort wasn't enough as Gujarat turned the screws. Mohit Sharma (2/17) and Noor Ahmad (2/18) starred for GT with the ball.
