Lucknow Super Giants kick off their maiden IPL campaign on Monday against fellow newcomers Gujarat Titans and all eyes will be on captain KL Rahul as well as his buddy and counterpart Hardik Pandya. Rahul has been the most prolific run-getter in IPL over the past three seasons but all the campaigns had ended in heartbreak as his performance was not enough to power his former franchise Punjab Kings to the play-offs. It’s a fresh start for Rahul and he would like to repay the faith shown in him by the LSG management by getting the team off to a good start.

While Rahul has been excellent in terms of batting deep and playing the anchor for the past few seasons, there is one stat that he would want to change. Rahul is the batter with most number of dot balls played  in IPL during the powerplay phase from the 2019 season. Off the 661 deliveries he has faced in the powerplay since 2019, Rahul has played a total of 295 dots, which puts him on top of the list.

This cautious approach is something which didn’t exist before the 2019 season. Rahul’s strike-rate was in the early 140s, but that has come down to the 120s since he took over captaincy. Rahul’s approach has resulted in a lot of runs for him but he must also keep in mind the need to press on the accelerator in the powerplay to give his team a strong start

One good things is that Rahul will have Quinton de Kock as his opening partner at Lucknow. The South African batter is known for the explosive starts that he gives to his teams in IPL. He has in fact hit the most number of 6s in the powerplay phase of IPL since 2019. KL Rahul is second on that list.

So, Lucknow have a devastating opening pair looking to unleash itself on the opposition. The back room staff, which includes former players of pedigree like Andy Flower and Gautam Gambhir, would hope that the two openers come true to their reputation.