Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar minced no words as he slammed wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul following Delhi Capitals’ stinging defeat against the Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday night.
After a series of poor outings, Delhi surprisingly opted to bat first on a slower pitch at the Arun Jaitley Stadium against CSK. Opening the batting, Rahul only mustered a run-a-ball start before falling midway through the Powerplay.
Delhi’s batting progressively slumped as they could only set up a 156-run target for CSK. Led by a superb unbeaten 87 from Sanju Samson, CSK crushed DC by eight wickets, handing them their sixth loss of the season. Manjrekar put the blame of the defeat squarely on Rahul’s slow-knock and lamented his inconsistency with intent in the Powerplay.
“It’s almost like odd and even games, where sometimes he goes after the bowling straightaway, which is the KL Rahul you want. But then he feels like he has earned the right, and he feels responsible for the rest of the batters to come, and then plays an innings like that. Once you get out after getting to 12 off 12, you’ve signed the death warrant for your team. Once they had those insipid first six overs, DC were done for the game.”