KL Rahul continued to have a hard time at the Narendra Modi stadium and with Punjab Kings playing their next three games there, the struggles might only mount.
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KL Rahul has not taken a liking to the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad. During the four games that he played in the Twenty20 International against England, he had scores of 1,0,0 and 14. An average of 3.75 saw him being dropped for the fifth game. Following the sequence of low scores and his drop, a meme went viral. It said Rahul never has had success against Narendra Modi. This was an apparent jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who has been opposing Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In IPL 2021, Rahul’s struggles at Narendra Modi stadium continued. He hit a four off Pat Cummins but was bogged down by Shivam Mavi’s accuracy. The youngster bowled in the right areas and did not provide any loose ball to Rahul. The pressure told on Rahul and he edged a short ball over third man for a six. However, he perished by miscuing a lofted shot to mid-off and he fell for 19 off 20 balls with a strike-rate of 95.
It was an innings of extremes for Rahul against Kolkata Knight Riders. He scored 14 runs in three balls but only five runs in the remaining 17 balls. It was an innings of extreme. Once again, scoring at a strike-rate of under 100 in the powerplay seems to have been Punjab Kings’ undoing. Mayank Agarwal was going great guns. But, if the batsman at the other end scores at under 100 then the gains are potentially cancelled.
Rahul has evolved into a batter who is solid and likes to bat till the end. In the last couple of seasons, Rahul’s Twenty20 batting has been stuck between solidity and aggression. He was IPL 2020’s Orange Cap holder but the strike-rate was a major issue. Rahul’s statement of ‘strike-rates are over-rated’ is continuing to hit him hard in a format that demands high strike-rates.
Rahul did smash a 14-ball fifty while opening in IPL 2018. In IPL 2021, he has once again been consistent with the runs. The number of runs, though, has never been the problem for Rahul. It has been the strike rate. That his struggles are being amplified at the Narendra Modi stadium is just a continuation of his bad luck. After this, Rahul must understand that strike-rates are never over-rated.
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