'He has become somebody we can rely on' - KL Rahul praises this Lucknow batter

After losing their opening game, Lucknow have made a brilliant comeback with two back-to-back wins. They do seem like a force to reckoned with. Despite suffering a poor start with the bat against Hyderabad, the KL Rahul-led side managed to recover pretty well and went on post a competitive score of 169 runs in the first innings.

Lucknow's bowlers were brilliant during the second innings as they defended 170 comfortably. Their skipper Rahul was mighty impressed with his troops during the post-match presentation. However, he also heaped praise for Deepak Hooda.

The middle-order batter scored a superb half-century on Monday. He's been really consistent in the ongoing edition of the Indian T20 league so far. Rahul also stated that Hooda is becoming someone whom they can rely on.

"I've been playing with Hooda for the last 3-4 seasons, he doesn't come out of the nets. Don't really need to do so much nets when you're batting so well, but he never comes out of the nets. He had to wait for his chance, he's using that, and has now become somebody we can rely on, in the middle order. He soaked in the pressure today and took on the bowling. Really pleased with the way he's batting. Hopefully, he can grow and get better," said KL Rahul.

Meanwhile, the opener also spoke about the mindset of his team. While mentioning the fact that it isn't ideal to lose early wickets, Rahul praised Lucknow's lower middle-order for stepping up. Besides, he was mighty impressed with his bowling unit as well.

"Not ideal to lose three wickets early in the first four overs, but we need to give ourselves a little time since we bat deep and we have power at the death (overs). That's something we need to learn as a batting group -- how to play risk-free cricket while looking for fours. But with the ball, we've been brilliant in all three games. We don't chat so much in the middle. As opening batsmen, you give yourselves a couple of balls and if the wicket is good then both openers have to go. We have that extra batter with Jason coming in, so the plan is to put pressure on the opposition.

That's the body language we want to carry. To go out there and hit boundaries and sixes, but choose smart shots. If we lost wickets early, we need to quickly assess the situation and see what the target should be. Quinton and Lewis wanted to put pressure on Washington, but it didn't come off," he added.