‘Later came to know that he said…’

Lucknow Super Giants spinner Amit Mishra opened up about the fight between the owner of the franchise Sanjiv Goenka and skipper KL Rahul during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. He said that the head of the franchise was disappointed with the way the team didn’t put up any fight during the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad. 

After the game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Lucknow Super Giants, the skipper KL Rahul was on the receiving end of a drubbing by owner Sanjiv Goenka. The owner didn’t look happy by the way the team performed in the game. 

Lucknow Super Giants faced a 10-wicket thrashing at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad. Before that game, they faced a 98-run loss against Kolkata Knight Riders and two back-to-back big losses didn’t go well with Sanjiv Goenka and he didn’t go easy on KL Rahul. 

On the sidelines of the boundary, Sanjiv Goenka was seen involved in a heated conversation with KL Rahul post-game. This led to speculations of Rahul being removed as captain. Also, the owner of the franchise received a lot of criticism for the way he treated the captain. 

Amit Mishra in a conversation with Shubhankar Mishra’s YouTube show – Unplugged – talked about the entire incident. He stated that the franchise owner felt like they were bowling in nets and his anger was justified because he has put money on the team. He explained: 

“He (Goenka) was disappointed. We lost two back-to-back matches very badly. Against KKR, we lost by some 90-100 runs and against SRH, the match was finished within 10 overs. It felt like we were bowling them during a net practice session. If I am so angry about it, will someone who has put money into the team not feel angry?” 

Later came to know that he said that the bowling was very bad – Amit Mishra on a tiff between KL Rahul and Sanjiv Goenka 

Amit Mishra further talked about the incident, saying that the owner of the franchise told KL Rahul that the team should’ve shown some fight and felt that the team surrendered. Speaking further about the same, he explained: 

“It was not a huge deal. But I later came to know that he said that the bowling was very bad and the team should have shown some fight. It looked like you had completely surrendered. But I feel people and media hyped it up a bit.” 

Lucknow Super Giants after losing two back-to-back games were in a difficult situation in IPL. They then missed the playoffs for the first time in their three-year IPL history, finishing seventh in the 10-team competition. With the mega auction slated to take place in 2025, it remains to be seen if KL Rahul will be retained as a skipper of the team. There were reports that claimed that keeper-batter might not be retained as the leader and he would be leaving the franchise to play for some other team.