Kevin Pietersen faces backlash as netizens misinterpret his 'boring' remark, link it to KL Rahul's knock

The 26th game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 featured a fiery clash between the KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants and Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Indoor Stadium in Jaipur on Wednesday, April 19.

Losing the toss, Lucknow came in to bat first as Kyle Mayers and skipper KL Rahul looked to set a strong foundation for the team in the first innings. Both players played resilient knocks, as Mayers amassed 51 runs in 42 deliveries, whereas, Rahul scored 39 runs in 32 balls.

As both batters only managed to score 37 runs in the powerplay without losing a wicket, that is when Kevin Pietersen and the other commentators started discussing how the game has been changing over the years. Pietersen also questioned Rahul’s approach to the game and whether his knock was suitable in a demanding T20 format game.

The 42-year-old is currently the talk of the town on social media for allegedly calling the Lucknow skipper’s knock boring, however, that was not the case, as Pietersen never directly implied it. The on-air commentators were simply questioning the slow approach of Mayers and Rahul in the first innings against Rajasthan Royals.

Is the game suited for KL Rahul and the way that he plays: Pietersen

KL Rahul played a maiden over in the very first over of the game against Trent Boult, and as the 31-year-old was batting on two runs in seven balls, Kevin Pietersen made a comment on air, saying, "Teams sometimes don't mind people getting out on 0. They don't mind occasional 2s as long as they are going out there and scoring at a 200 or 300 strike rate. That's the way the game is. Is the game suited for KL Rahul and the way that he plays?"

Furthermore, the former England batter opined about the slow approach that both batters took in the early stages of the game and reflected on them playing shots from inside the crease, saying, "But again, standing in the crease, playing from the crease, it's boring."

The comments were not made for KL Rahul specifically, but the commentators remarked generally, keeping in mind the T20 format.