After suffering a defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday, Punjab Kings skipper KL Rahul admitted it would be a case of him lying if he said the struggles of the rest of the side’s batting unit don’t play on his mind.
Outside of his opening partner Mayank Agarwal, hardly any other PBKS batter has inspired much trust and confidence in their batting abilities for Rahul. This has been evident in the way the 29-year-old has batted since taking over the team’s captaincy last year.
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Rahul has made 528 runs at an average of 52.80 this campaign, but his strike-rate is only 129.09. The elegant right-hander had struck 670 runs last season with an average of 55.83. However, his strike-rate back then also was just 129.34.
“I’ll be lying if I say it doesn’t play on my mind. I play a role that the team demands. It’s not something that I always enjoy, but when you play a team game and are a leader, you have to accept responsibility. I have tried to play that role,”
Rahul was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz at the post-match interview on Sunday.
Rahul was speaking after another obvious effort of substance but extensive care against the Challengers. While the skipper scored 39 runs at the top of the order, he took 35 deliveries to make those as his team suffered a six-run loss to be out of the playoffs race.
“If I have to be honest, our batting has let us down,”
he added, summing up the season and indirectly explaining his approach at the crease.
There have been suggestions, however, that Rahul could have anchored the innings at a higher strike-rate through the season and ensure that the PBKS middle-order isn’t forced to take that many risks.
It is likely that Rahul will end with the ‘orange cap’ for the second successive season. But the captain said he would have been “happier” wearing it if his team had made it through to the playoffs.
With five wins from 13 matches, PBKS have no chance of securing the top four berth. Rahul and co. have only one game remaining in their campaign on Thursday against Chennai Super Kings.
