After middling success with the bat in the last two seasons with the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has advised KL Rahul to leave his opening spot and instead bat in the middle order in the IPL 2024 season.
Rahul has been among the highest run-getters in the last two seasons. In IPL 2022, he scored over 600 runs but had a strike rate of 135, which was poor when compared to two other openers and highest run scorers, Quinton de Kock and Jos Buttler.
In 2023, his season was cut short by an injury. However, last year, he averaged just 34 with a strike rate of 113. With him starting slow while opening, Pathan had suggested the opener to bat in the middle order for LSG and optimize their other two opening options, Kyle Mayers and Quinton de Kock. While talking with Star Sports, he said:
“He is a car with gears in an era of automatic cars. He can bat in any gear from first to fifth. He even has a sixth gear. So considering that KL Rahul batting down the order might not be bad at all.”
“The team combination could include both Quinton de Kock and Kyle Mayers in such a scenario. If both of them get a place, they (LSG) can go with an all-Indian pace attack.”
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