Batting great Sunil Gavaskar has hailed the Lucknow Super Giants' opening pair of KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock. LSG start their Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign with a clash against fellow debutants Gujarat Titans at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Monday.
The Gujarat Titans vs Lucknow Super Giants match can be watched live on Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar. Match coverage starts 6.30 PM IST onwards.
KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock joined the Lucknow-based franchise from Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians respectively. Rahul was previously leading Punjab Kings while de Kock was a regular for five-time champions Mumbai. Now, the two experienced batters will hope to give LSG good starts in their maiden IPL campaign.
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"When he [KL Rahul] was the captain of Punjab Kings, he seemed to be preoccupied, maybe he was not getting the 11 that he wanted," Gavaskar said during a Gameplan episode aired on Star Sports.
Punjab Kings finished a lowly sixth in the eight-team IPL 2021, winning six in 13 outings, despite Rahul's strong show with the bat. The 26-year-old scored 626 runs at an average of 62.60 with six fifties. Overall, the right-handed batter has scored 3273 in 94 matches at an average of 47.43, with two centuries and 27 fifties.
"The new franchise Lucknow Super Giants is going to be a different challenge for KL and if he can bat the way he did in previous seasons and take the team to the knockouts if not actually the finals, then he would have taken a big step forward as far as his own cricketing career is concerned," Gavaskar said.
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For De Kock, IPL 2021 was not the best season for him. The left-handed batter played 11 matches last season for Mumbai Indians, scoring 297 runs at 29.70. But the former South Africa captain remains one of the most explosive openers in world cricket. He has scored 2256 runs in 77 matches in IPL.
“The best part about Quinton de Kock is the fact that he also has captaincy experience. He has been a captain of South Africa and knows all formats of the game. He knows what team building is all about because we are talking about a different team now. He will be very keen to contribute towards the team building process," Gavaskar opined.
Also, for a new team, a lot will depend on how the openers perform. KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock will be playing together for the first time.
Gavaskar said that the "right hand and left hand combination makes a devastating opening pair and they can get the team off to a flying start.”
The 15th edition of IPL started on Saturday with a clash between last season's finalists, Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders. Shreyas Iyer's KKR defeated Ravindra Jadeja's CSK by six wickets at Wankhede Stadium.
On Sunday, Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings registered thrilling wins against Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
