"He kept calm and kept on manoeuvring his troops" - Michael Vaughan impressed by KL Rahul's captaincy after LSG's win over RR
Former cricketers Michael Vaughan and Shaun Pollock dissected the match between the Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants KL as the latter pulled off the lowest defense in IPL 2023. Vaughan observed that the opening batter did exceptionally well to manage his bowlers and defend a modest 154.
The Super Giants' batting unit faltered after an 82-run opening stand in 11.1 overs as they slid from 82-0 to 104-4. Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis did the weightlifting in the final few overs to propel their side to 154. However, their bowlers were even better, led by Avesh Khan, who finished with figures of 4-0-25-3, to fashion a ten-run win.
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Speaking on Cricbuzz live, Vaughan said:
"KL Rahul's captaincy was excellent. He kept calm and kept on manoeuvring his troops. Stoinis, his first bowl in the IPL this year, did a good job, got a key wicket. Avesh Khan was excellent. Naveen-ul-Haq set the tone at the start. I just thought he was the pick of the bowlers, without getting the returns in terms of the wickets column."
Vaughan admitted that he didn't see Rahul as a natural leader, but said that game against the Royals changed his views on the 28-year-old. Vaughan said:
"When I look at KL Rahul as a captain, I don't see him as a natural leader. I see him as a very good batter. He is a very good Test match and 50-over batter, but I think he is struggling in T20 cricket at the moment to get his tempo right. As a captain, I don't often notice him at all. Tonight, I could see it. I could see that he was quite animated and making the moves. I could see that he was talking to his bowlers and was really getting his field set for every kind of play."
While Rahul came good as captain, his 32-ball 39 drew plenty of criticism as many felt he could've gone harder. Vaughan's former England teammate Kevin Pietersen said on air that Rahul is one of the most boring players to watch in the powerplay.
"Naveen-ul-Haq was superb and his little variations and it's very subtle" - Shaun Pollock
Pollock, one of the top seam bowlers during his playing days, observed that Naveen-ul-Haq bowled impressively, especially at the back end. Pollock also felt that holding the upper hand over Jos Buttler would do him a world of good moving forward.
"Naveen-ul-Haq was superb and his little variations and it's very subtle. It seems like a very difficult slower delivery to pick out of the hand. He did a fantastic job even when he came in at the back end he held his nerves nicely. Tonight will do him a huge amount of good because he's gone up against the best player in the world in Jos Buttler. I'm not saying he had Buttler on his toes, but he kept Butter quiet. Buttler, on any surface, pretty much against most bowlers around the world, can get you. The way he bowled to him was excellent."
Naveen, playing his first game of IPL 2023, produced figures of 4-0-19-0.