IPL 2022: KL Rahul lauds Faf du Plessis for his great knock of 96 runs against LSG
Apr 20, 2022
Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 20 : After getting defeated by Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday, Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul lavished praises on his rival batter Faf du Plessis for his breakthrough knock of 96 runs.
du Plessis's 96-run knock and Josh Hazlewood's four-wicket haul helped Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Lucknow Super Giants by 18 runs here at the Dr DY Patil Stadium.
"We have all seen Faf playing over the years and he is really a good player, not only of spin but overall as well. He played a wonderful innings. I don't think it was an easy wicket to bat on but the way he constructed his innings, was really good. That's something we as a batting unit, one of us in the top three or four had to do and bat till the last over," said KL Rahul in a post-match press conference.
"Unfortunately, we couldn't string into those partnerships. It was a very good knock from Faf and being a captain, it was one of the best captains innings he could have played," he added.
The skipper further said that Krunal Pandya was sent ahead of Marcus Stoinis as the latter bats dangerously at the end.
"There was no special reason (on sending Krunal). We always want to try the left hand-right handed combination whenever there is some spin in the pitch and we wanted to keep Stoinis a little later in the batting order because we know he is dangerous at the end. We take some strategic calls based on the pitches and the game," said the batter.
It was Lucknow's third defeat in their seven outings of IPL 2022, while Bangalore have won five games out of seven.
"You got to give the credit to the opposition as well. They kept us under pressure despite losing wickets. Maxwell and Faf, when they were batting were always positive and trying to be aggressive. They put our bowlers under pressure and got some loose balls and they put them away," said Rahul.
"At times we went too far ahead with our tactics that we don't want to be predictable. We needed to put a squeeze on them and that's something we need to learn going forward as a team," he added.
Lucknow will be going up against Mumbai Indians for their next IPL 2022 clash on Sunday, at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
