Lucknow Super Giants spinner Amit Mishra has spoken about the tussle between franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka and captain KL Rahul during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. He said that the franchise boss was disappointed with the way the team did not put up a fight during the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
After the match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Lucknow Super Giants, captain KL Rahul was given a beating by owner Sanjiv Goenka. The owner did not seem happy with the team’s performance in the match.
Lucknow Super Giants suffered a 10-wicket thrashing at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad. Before that match, they suffered a 98-run defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders and two back-to-back heavy defeats did not go well for Sanjiv Goenka and did not take it easy on KL Rahul.
On the sidelines, Sanjiv Goenka was seen engaging in a heated conversation with KL Rahul after the match. This led to speculations about Rahul being removed as captain. Also, the franchise owner received a lot of flak for the way he treated the captain.
Amit Mishra, in a conversation with Shubhankar Mishra’s YouTube show Unplugged, spoke about the entire incident. He claimed that the franchise owner felt like they were being bowled into the nets and that his anger was justified as he had bet money on the team. He explained:
“He (Goenka) was disappointed. We lost two matches in a row very badly. Against KKR, we lost by around 90-100 runs and against SRH, the match was over in 10 overs. It seemed as if we were bowling to them during a net practice session. If I am so angry about this, won’t anyone who has invested money in the team feel angry?”
It was later learnt that he said the bowling was very bad – Amit Mishra on a fight between KL Rahul and Sanjiv Goenka
Amit Mishra spoke further about the incident and said that the franchise owner told KL Rahul that the team should have shown some fight and he felt that the team gave up. Speaking further on the same issue, he explained:
“It wasn’t a big deal, but I heard later that he said the pitch was really bad and the team should have fought back. It seemed like you had completely given up, but I think people and the media exaggerated the matter a bit.”
Lucknow Super Giants, after losing two consecutive matches, were in a tough spot in the IPL. They then missed the playoffs for the first time in their three-year history in the IPL, finishing seventh in the 10-team competition. With the mega auction scheduled to take place in 2025, it remains to be seen whether KL Rahul will be retained as the captain of the team. There were reports claiming that the wicketkeeper-batsman might not be retained as the leader and that he would leave the franchise to play for another team.
