LSG concluded their campaign with an 18-run victory over MI on Friday, May 17. Head coach Justin Langer remarked that while the team started strong, their intensity waned after the announcement of the T20 World Cup squads. Although Langer didn’t specify which squad he referred to, it is implied he meant KL Rahul and Ravi Bishnoi, who were notable omissions from the Indian squad.

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WC Selection Main Reason Why LSG Didn’t Qualify?

“Since the World Cup selection, things seemed to change a little bit. We had a couple of poor games and it really cost us. We played really good cricket through April, but we fell away. It’s been disappointing. We had a very good team, we missed a few bowlers due to injuries and that made difference,” Justin Langer said at the post-match press conference.

KL Rahul, excluded from the T20 side following a disappointing 2022 World Cup, had made efforts to improve his strike rate throughout April. However, after the squad announcement, Rahul reverted to his previous style, leading to LSG losing crucial matches.

“It’s a shame that we were not able to make it to the playoffs,” he further added.

Langer defended Rahul’s batting approach, stating that each player has a unique game plan and Rahul was entitled to follow his own method.

“One area KL Rahul would like to improve is that he got some really good 30s and 40s, and then found someone on the boundary. I think he is a really good player, a really good person. I have heard the criticism, but understand that everyone does it differently. If you play at a strike rate of 160s throughout, that is very high-risk cricket. The game is evolving, I think he will evolve as a player as well,” Langer said.

“It would almost be the biggest job in cricket being the head coach of the Indian cricket team because of the huge volume of cricket, the huge expectation. It would be a great challenge, it would be great fun. It would be a wonderful opportunity to win ICC titles, but with all these things, the timing has gotta be right,” he further added.

When asked about potentially becoming India’s head coach after the T20 World Cup 2024, Langer declined, stating he wasn’t ready for the stress of the role, having already coached Australia for four years.

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