I don’t know how it happened, but it happened: KL Rahul

LUCKNOW: His bizarre batting approach led to his team’s seven-run loss against Gujarat Titans but Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul on Saturday refused to take the blame, saying “these things happen in cricket and we will have to take it on the chin”.

Chasing 136 for a win on a sluggish pitch, LSG was cruising along at 105 for 1 after 14 overs with 31 needed off 36 deliveries but ended at 128 for 7 from 20 overs.

“I don’t know how it happened, but it has happened. I can’t put a finger on where it went wrong, but we lost two points today (Saturday), this is cricket,” Rahul said at the post-match presentation.

“We started well with the bat, but these things happen, we’ll have to take it on the chin.” Rahul, however, conceded that the batters should have taken a few more chances as they had wickets in hand.

“We were well ahead in the game and I wasn’t really trying to bat deep, I still wanted to play my shots, take on the bowlers, but they bowled well in that 2-3 over period, by Noor and Jayant. “We perhaps should have taken a few more chances with wickets in hand. They bowled decently. Not an easy wicket for new batters to come in. Set batters need to finish the game.

“We missed some boundary opportunities in the end. The pressure got to us in the last 3-4 overs, we played well until then. But we should have got it done.”

He praised his bowlers for restricting GT to 135 for 6. “I thought we were brilliant with the ball, 135 was 10 runs under par, the bowling was exceptional. “But still a long way to go, 8 points off 7 games, we were on the wrong side of the result.”

Hardik Pandya said a win like this can boost the team’s confidence. “After the two games we lost, this seems like god is telling us I am not always going to take from you, I will give to you too,” he said.

“The way the environment changed when we got wickets, the belief we had, was wonderful to watch. In a tournament like this, one loss can break you, but such a win can do the opposite.”