"If KL Rahul captains us to title...": LSG coach Langer on batters' T20 World Cup chances

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 20 : Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) latest season starting from Friday, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) head coach Justin Langer said that if skipper KL Rahul and spinner perform well for the franchise in this season, their chances of playing in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup for India will increase.
The 17th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will start from March 22, with defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) set to clash with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in a South Indian derby at their home arena--MA Chidambaram Stadium. Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants will be starting their campaign at Jaipur on March 24.
Speaking to the reporters in the pre-season press conference, Langer said, "If KL can captain LSG to the IPL title, that means he would have captained well, batted well and kept wickets well. The message for players like KL and Bishi (Bishnoi) would be that the more they concentrate on doing well for LSG, their chances (of T20 World Cup) will increase."
KL's spot in T20I format has claimants such as wicketkeeper-batters like Ishan Kishan, Jitesh Sharma, Sanju Samson, Dhruv Jurel who have delivered some solid performances for India recently and Rishabh Pant being finally declared fit by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the IPL. He was dropped from the T20I squad following a dismal ICC T20 World Cup in Australia back in 2022, in which he scored just 128 runs in six matches at an average of 21.33, with a below-par strike rate of 120.75, with two fifties. In the IPL 2023, where his season was cut short due to injury, he scored 274 runs in nine matches at an average of 34.25 with two fifties, but his strike rate had fallen to 113.22. This season will be crucial for KL to make his return to the shortest format.
Bishnoi, on the other hand, has performed well in T20Is, taking 36 wickets in 24 matches at an average of 19.52. He was also the number-one ranked T20I bowler at one point.
Langer also spoke very highly of India's domestic talent, saying that he is mind-blown by the amount of talent the country has. One of these 'players for the future' that has caught his eyeballs is the batting all-rounder Arshin Kulkarni, who was snapped for Rs 20 lakh by LSG at the auction last year. Kulkarni was also a part of India's runners-up ICC U19 World Cup squad this year, scoring 189 runs in seven matches including a century and taking four wickets.
"I was talking to Ricky Ponting (Delhi Capitals head coach and Langer's teammate) and I cannot believe the amount of depth of talent India has, including in my own franchise. My mind is blown. India is blessed in this regard. Rahul Dravid, one of the great people I know in cricket, he must wake up every day excited to coach the Indian team with the amount of talent there is," said Langer.
"What a talent! (on Arshin). I was watching one of our batters bat and I heard a sound coming from the other net. I looked over, I kept watching this young man bat, he has got enormous talent and immense potential. Time will tell if he will get a chance, since there is a lot of other players, but he is a player for the future. He is someone everyone should be absolutely watching out for," he added.
Talking about captain KL's arrival for the practice match, Langer said that a flight delay has delayed his arrival but he will be joining the team after the start of their practice game on Wednesday.
"He will be around for the first time with the boys. Everyone is looking forward to it. He has been working really hard, practicing, hitting a lot of balls," the coach added.
Speaking about the pitch, which was friendly to bowlers last season, Langer said that a lot of work has been done on the pitch.
"They have changed the water that goes into the pitch. They have changed some of the soil on the pitch, we saw some good results in the World Cup. There were some high-scoring games, for instance, the South Africa-Australia league stage match was a high-scoring game. We have trained here, had good training sessions on the centre wicket and a practice game last night under the lights. The pitches were excellent. Congratulations to the groundsmen. They have done a great job. What I have seen so far, we have nothing to worry about," said Langer.
The team has some issues to sort out, with batters like Kyle Mayers, Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal being top-order/opening batters. On fixing the team's batting order, Langer said, "Ever since I left coaching the Australian team, I have been sleeping well at night. Now I cannot sleep easily at night, since it is so hard to fit in so much talent within 11 spots. It is a great problem to have, we will work at it, it is nice to have so much talent in our squad."
Talking about the support from the team owners, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, Langer said that they have been very supportive.
"It has been incredible (The support from owners). Obviously, the expectations are high, that is good. To win the IPL is what everyone is dreaming about and working towards, we know how tough it is. Since I have arrived in Lucknow, it feels incredible, feels like you are a part of a family. Marcus Stoinis (Australian all-rounder in the LSG team) was telling me: 'JL! You are going to love it' ever since I was appointed as coach, since everyone is so humble, kind and caring and now I do understand what he was saying," said Langer.