Rahul's poor strike rate, below-par leadership cost him LSG retention

New Delhi: KL Rahul's inability to adapt to the ever-changing dynamics of T20 batting cost him his retention at Lucknow Super Giants with the franchise opting for an alpha finisher in Nicholas Pooran as per the preferences of head coach Justin Langer and mentor Zaheer Khan.

It was first reported by PTI in August that Rahul's poor strike rate could cost him his captaincy. As of now, LSG have decided to retain Pooran as their top pick along with pace sensation Mayank Yadav, leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi and Ayush Badoni (uncapped) for the upcoming IPL auctions.

"The only consideration at LSG was performance in the last three years and especially Rahul's own batting style and strike rate which are important variables while a decision is arrived at," a source tracking development in LSG told PTI on Wednesday.

"So Langer and Zaheer sat with all the numbers... Rahul's SR for three years with LSG is 136.13 (616 runs), 113.23 (274) and 135.38 (520). In today's T20, when even Indian team had to change its philosophy, these numbers weren't acceptable," the source added.

In comparison, Pooran, who bats primarily in the back 10, at a difficult middle-order slot, had a strike rate of 144.34 in 2022, and a very impressive 172.95 and 178.21 in the following seasons.

"If you see in 2024, Rahul's aggregate of 520 runs didn't help team qualify. Most matches were won and lost due to our powerplay batting," the source said.

Pooran, on the other hand, is a popular member of the side and one of the leaders in the pack, having also captained West Indies.

As far as Mayank Yadav is concerned, he is the only 150-plus bowler in the country and LSG invested in him at a time when he was a non-entity.

"Mayank is like home grown LSG boy. With his talent, these injuries won't matter as he will be an asset for us," he said.

Pant suspense continues

Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals are keeping everyone in suspense regarding the retention of Rishabh Pant, whose future in the franchise depends a lot on how much free hand the GMR management is willing to give a player who was recruited by co-owners JSW.

The core team that Pant worked with, including head coach Ricky Ponting, team director Sourav Ganguly and assistant coach Praveen Amre, is not there this year, and it isn't comforting.

Instead, it's going to be Venugopal Rao and Hemang Badani, who will be in charge and whether Pant will gel with them is a million dollar question.

"If Pant goes to the auction, trust me there could be an intense bidding war with 25 crore mark being breached in IPL," an IPL insider said.