IPL 2023: BCCI to handle KL Rahul’s injury, Krunal Pandya to lead Lucknow Super Giants against Chennai Super Kings

Ahead of the World Test Championship Final against Australia, star team India batter KL Rahul suffered a horrific injury, which may rule him out for a significant period of time. However, everything will be decided after the reports of all the tests come out. 

Notably, in the match between Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore at Ekana Stadium, the 31-year-old suffered an injury while attempting to save the ball going to the fence. After that, he couldn’t take any part in the remainder of the match and only came out to bat when LSG lost their entire lineup. Even so, Rahul could barely walk as LSG eventually lost the game by 18 runs.

Meanwhile, according to a report from Cricbuzz, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the medical team of NCA decided to take the matter into their hands and will soon take a decision on Rahul’s further participation in the ongoing IPL 2023. In his absence, Krunal Pandya will be seen leading the side against Chennai Super Kings as it is expected that the Mangalore-born cricketer will not be available for at least this particular game.

Simon Doull explains the reason behind KL Rahul coming out to bat at number 11

Former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull believes that Rahul didn’t walk out to bat to help his team win against RCB but solely to improve their net run rate. Now, even though the cricketer failed to score any runs, Amit Mishra, on the other end, played a few shots as that might play a part in helping LSG qualify for playoffs after the league stage is done and dusted. 

“I am not sure if he [KL Rahul] or the team thought they could win the game when he came in at No.11. What I do believe is that the net run rate is still going to be crucial later on in the tournament. So if Amit Mishra could hit a four or two fours, or if KL could have got one four, all of a sudden they get 12 more runs than what they were on.

“It makes a little bit of a difference to that net run rate, and every little bit counts at the back end of this tournament. I don't believe that he thought for any second that he could hit five balls out of the park and win the game for them,” Doull stated while talking to Cricbuzz.

Notably, following the defeat against RCB, LSG are third on the IPL Points Table while RCB moved to number five.