A day after Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) posted a mammoth 10-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Indian Premier League (IPL) and videos of LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka verbally bashing skipper KL Rahul went viral, the franchise has thanked its supporters for sticking with the team.
Taking to social media platform ‘X’, LSG wrote, "We're all hurt by that game. ???? But we are so grateful for each blue flag at Uppal, and every social media post or comment in our support despite this defeat."
Batting first, LSG set a target of 166 runs in 20 overs for SRH. Hyderabad openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma reached the target in 9.4 overs. After the defeat, the LSG owner was spotted having a heated conversation with skipper KL Rahul on the ground.
With the video of KL Rahul and Sanjiv Goenka's heated conversation going viral, netizens were upset with the boss of the IPL franchise and sought an apology from Goenka.
One user wrote, “LSG’s owner Sanjeev Goenka is agitated with KL Rahul for the loss against SRH. He has right to be upset but can’t humiliate a senior Indian player like this publicly. Cricket is NOT marwadi dhanda!"
Another fan wrote, “Pehle apne owner ko dekho fir gyan deyo. Bhare samaj mei cameras ke saamne gussa kar raha KL Rahul se. Defeats come and go, this behaviour is awful pathetic from Mr. Goenka."
Some wrote, “Disappointing to see the owner of the team scolding thr own skipper... I m not a big fan of KL but this is not done tht behaviour from Goenka should have been avoided by Goenka himself. Kind of a humiliation to the LSG skipper.."
Meanwhile, reports arrived that LSG may possibly sack their captain KL Rahul for the remaining two games and also not retain him in the following IPL tournaments. They bought Rahul for a record ?17 crore at the IPL 2022 auction.
"There is a five-day gap before the next game against DC. As of now, no decision has been taken but it is understood that if Rahul plans to just concentrate on his batting for the remaining two games, the management won't mind," an IPL source told PTI.
For the record, if KL Rahul decides to step down, vice-captain Nicholas Pooran is likely to take over for the remaining two games.
