IPL 2023: Haunted by KL Rahul's injury, LSG lose the plot against RCB in Lucknow

For Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Monday, things were far from perfect against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. IPL 2023:  Full coverage  |  Points table  |  Schedule  |  Results  |  Orange Cap  |  Purple Cap​ LSG had lost skipper KL Rahul due to an unprecedented injury as early as in the second over of the match, and their batters struggled to cope up without Rahul in their batting lineup despite being set a moderate target of 127. Rahul’s injury came out of nowhere. LSG batters lacked confidence without their skipper, and were eventually skittled out for just 108 in 19.5 overs. Where did LSG lose the game? LSG’s batting. It would be hard to believe that this was almost the same batting lineup that posted a mammoth 257/5 against Punjab Kings only a few days back, but as they say, a lot can change in a few days. This LSG batting lineup without Rahul looked depleted. Ayush Badoni, someone who had not opened before in the IPl, was called in as an Impact Player for KL Rahul, and he opened along with Kyle Mayers. But, Badoni (4) failed to make much of an impact, being caught by Virat Kohli at cover off Josh Hazlewood’s over. Regular wickets kept haunting LSG and at the end of powerplay, at 34/4, they clearly were in a spot of bother. In a match where it should have been a straightforward chase, LSG batters lacked confidence. They never really got a stable partnership going, barring a couple of 20-plus stands. And by nine overs, LSG were already half their side down with their score reading 53/5. Mohammed Siraj has proven to be a game-changer with the new ball, and yet again, he was at it on Monday, finishing with figures of 1/24 from three overs. Karn Sharma and Josh Hazlewood had taken two wickets apiece. RCB bowlers were clinical, delivering under pressure, and also with six of the seven bowlers who bowled taking at least a wicket. From 53/5, LSG were bundled out for 108 in 19.5 overs. A major setback can have major effects on the team, and that was prevalent after Rahul got injured. So much so long that Rahul had been batting as the designated opener for LSG, it was always going to be a huge task for Badoni, and that too, in such a short notice. So how did Rahul get injured? In the final ball of the second over, Faf du Plessis had punched through extra cover in a bid to find a boundary, but Rahul sprinted for the ball but eventually seemed to have tweaked his right thigh muscle . Rahul was soon given attention from the physio, and not much longer, he was taken off the field in a stretcher. After the match, Krunal Pandya, who was the stand-in skipper, said that Rahul had pulled his hp-flexor, and that the medical team would assess the captain’s injury. “It is such a sad thing he pulled his hip-flexor. I don’t know how bad it is, the medical team will assess it,” said Krunal. One would hope Rahul’s injury is not that serious and LSG would certainly want him back up and running as soon as possible. Afteralll, this season has been one of the most unpredictable seasons as far as playoffs are concerned, with all teams still in with a mathematical chance. Only time will tell how LSG deal with Rahul’s injury should he be out for a considerably long period, but it will be of paramount importance that they fire in unison,  especially with the final few league games coming thick and fast. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.