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KL Rahul, Lucknow (Source: Twitter)
KL Rahul will captain the Lucknow franchise as they kick off with their debut game of the Indian T20 League (ITL) 2023 against the Delhi franchise on April 1 at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. In 2022, Lucknow made their ITL debut. They made it to the playoffs. However, the Bangalore franchise finally defeated them in the Eliminator.
The Lucknow franchise is currently viewed as a major contender to win the ITL 2023 title based on their good performance in the previous season. With head coach Andy Flower and team mentor Gautam Gambhir, a former India batsman who has won two ITL titles with the Kolkata franchise, the team representing the North Indian city boasts a strong think tank.
KL Rahul will be a key player for Lucknow in ITL 2023
Besides their skipper KL Rahul, the franchise may struggle without other veteran Indian players. Despite having several quality domestic players, the club must continuously deliver strong performances to compensate for the absence of veteran players. Therefore, KL Rahul will be a key player for Lucknow in the upcoming edition of the Indian T20 League.
As such, a recent tweet resurfaced KL Rahul's exceptional record in the coveted league sparking reactions among fans. The tweet reads, "KL Rahul in ITL since 2018: 2018: 659 runs (54.92 Avg & 158.41 Sr) 2019: 593 runs (53.91 Avg & 135.39 Sr) 2020: 670 runs (55.83 Avg & 129.34 Sr) 2021: 626 runs (62.6 Avg & 138.8 Sr) 2022: 616 runs (51.33 Avg & 135.38 Sr)."
Although KL Rahul boasts an exceptional record in ITL, his views on the strike rate have been controversial. Even in his record, he has mostly batted at strike rates of 130-135 and rarely in the 150 mark, which is much more desirable in T20s.
Lucknow squad for ITL 2023: KL Rahul (captain), Avesh Khan, Ayush Badoni, Quinton de Kock (wk), K Gowtham, Deepak Hooda, Prerak Mankad, Kyle Mayers, Amit Mishra, Mohsin Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Krunal Pandya, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Ravi Bishnoi, Daniel Sams, Karan Sharma, Romario Shepherd, Marcus Stoinis, Swapnil Singh, Jaydev Unadkat, Manan Vohra, Mark Wood, Mayank Yadav, Yash Thakur, Yudhvir Singh.
Here's how fans reacted to KL Rahul's exceptional record:
Will be remembered as an Indian player who was famously known to people as an IPL legend. π₯π₯
β Gyanu (@ImAmardeep007) March 29, 2023
Runs kamm hote ja rhe hai 2020 se π
β Rahul Sharma (@RahulSh10190225) March 29, 2023
Paise milenge toh sab chalenge
β Cricket Fan 07 (@Manas_pr_sharma) March 29, 2023
Now show his average in ICC tournaments
β β¨ (@1amsidhant) March 29, 2023
Johns, do you have guts to post mighty Hitman in IPL since 2017?π€ pic.twitter.com/3OJucWAHdA
β Aniketπ¦ (@80off59) March 29, 2023
Baap of IPL
β Anshdeep Singh (@anshwitter) March 29, 2023
He will definitely score more than 600 runs this season and will be an orange cap contender.
β Vibinraj (@vibin1021) March 29, 2023
Jalwa hai idhar humara pic.twitter.com/W4mxkFAm0n
β KL Siku Kumar (@KL_Siku_Kumar) March 29, 2023