'Rahul will have to change his intent' - Wasim Jaffer's suggestion to KL Rahul after yet another dismal outing in IPL 2023

Lucknow Super Giants recorded a thrilling one-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in their latest Indian Premier League 2023 match on April 10 to top the points table. The KL Rahul-led side successfully chased the 213-run target off the innings' last ball despite some early slipups at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium. 

Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis shone with sensational knocks for Lucknow but, Indian stars Rahul, Krunal Pandya, and Deepak Hooda failed to contribute again. Rahul managed to score just 18 off 20 deliveries and once again struggled to show any intent to pace up his innings. Rahul's knock has left former cricketer Wasim Jaffer in surprise, who believes that he needs to lead from the front and capitalise on the impressive depth that the Super Giants' batting unit possesses.

“I am surprised. It was a bit painful as well. When you are chasing 213 and you are the captain, you need to lead from the front. Rahul will have to change his intent. LSG have a very good batting line-up. In the current team, Krunal Pandya hasn’t fired yet, same with Deepak Hooda. Also, there is a lot of depth in the batting. He will need to show some intent because the team has really good backups. It’s not like LSG would not be able to score runs if Rahul gets out," Wasim Jaffer told ESPNcricinfo.

Rahul's slow approach puts pressure on the non-striker: Wasim Jaffer

Jaffer also pointed out Rahul's orthodox approach in T20 franchise cricket and said that it added unnecessary pressure on the non-striker and the players sitting in the dugout. Rahul was little defensive with his shot selection as Lucknow lost three early wickets in the match against RCB but he didn't show much intent to thwart off pressure when Stoinis was leading the charge in the middle overs.

“We have seen Rahul play blazing knocks, but sometimes in franchise cricket, he takes up a little too much time. That puts pressure on the non-striker and the players in the dugout as well. The other batters thus have to take unnecessary risks. Rahul can play attacking cricket. It’s just that he needs to bat with more positive intent,” Jaffer added.

Rahul has managed to score just 100 runs from four innings at an average of 20.25 and a poor strike rate of 100.00 in IPL 2023 despite Lucknow's impressive start to the season.