Lucknow Super Giants head coach Justin Langer was the brain behind making KL Rahul the 'Impact Player' and Nicholas Pooran the captain for their Indian Premier League match against Punjab Kings in Lucknow on Saturday. (Match Blog | Scorecard | Streaming)
While the 'Impact Player' rule came into existence from last season, the league has hardly seen any captain being named one.
During the toss, everyone was surprised to see Pooran coming out in the middle.
"KL is coming back from injury and we're looking to give him a break in such a long tournament, but he'll play as an impact player today. Everyone must take the opportunities and perform at their best," Pooran said at the toss.
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Rahul, who missed four Tests against England due to a quadriceps injury which healed "90 per cent" (as per a BCCI release), was declared fit by the National Cricket Academy (NCA) before the IPL, and the LSG skipper opened and kept wickets in their first match against Rajasthan Royals.
However, sources tracking the development at LSG explained the rationale behind the decision.
"KL is absolutely fit and remains very much in charge. It is a decision taken by the coach," the source said.
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It is understood that on days when LSG bat first, Rahul could be the only player in the top order, who could be replaced in order to bring in a bowler.
Marcus Stoinis, Ayush Badoni and Krunal Pandya can all bowl while Quinton De Kock can keep. Nicholas Pooran is a brilliant outfielder and Devdutt Padikkal is also an above-average fielder.
In matches in which LSG bat first, the use of a specialist bowler-pacer or spinner can only happen if Rahul is replaced. That explains the decision by Langer, who is looking to make optimum use of the available resources.
