He led them to the playoffs in 2022 and 2023. Moreover, he has piled on the runs in the competition and has the highest aggregate in the IPL since 2018. And yet, Rahul did not find a place amongst LSG’s five retentions which included Nicholas Pooran, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan and Ayush Badoni.

The spat with the franchise owners may have played its part but that was only the outcome of LSG’s poor run in the tournament – they finished 7th in the group stages – and the onus of that was on their captain and star batter Rahul.

Was there a problem with Rahul’s approach as a batter? Was his mindset too conservative? Did he take enough risks in the powerplay? Did the self-imposed role of an anchor adversely affect his team’s chances in 2024 and was that the main reason that LSG let go of their run-scoring machine ahead of the mega auction in November?

Rahul: The IPL Run-Monster

Rahul has an unparalleled aggregate of 3958 runs in 93 innings at an average of 50.1 and strike rate of 136.38 in the IPL since 2018. There is a yawning gap between Rahul and the second-highest scorer in this time-frame – Virat Kohli – who has an aggregate of 3586 runs. Rahul’s exploits include 33 fifties and four hundreds.

Rahul has also been extremely consistent in the tournament. He has scored in excess of 600 runs in four of the seven editions since 2018 and more than 500 on as many as six. These are mighty impressive numbers and showcase his hunger for the big runs in the grandest league in the world.

Rahul has also been the most prolific run-getter for LSG with an aggregate of 1410 in 38 innings at an average of 41.5 and strike rate of 130.7 with 10 fifties and two hundreds. No other batter has scored over 1000 runs for the franchise.

In terms of aggregates, these are great numbers but the game is no longer only about scoring runs – almost equally significant, especially in the T20 format, is the rate at which you score them. And this is where Rahul, the opener, has faltered in the last few seasons of the competition.

Rahul, The Opener, In IPL

Rahul – the opener - has an aggregate of 4183 runs in 99 innings at an average of 48.63 and strike rate of 136.92 in the IPL. He scored 2548 runs in 55 innings at the top of the order for Punjab Kings at an average of 56.62 and strike rate of 139.76. Now here lay the problem.

Only 12 of Rahul’s 25 fifty-plus scores came at a strike rate of 150-plus. Punjab Kings won eight of these matches, which was a success percentage of 66.67%, showcasing a clear correlation between Rahul the aggressor and victory for his franchise.

Conversely, in the 13 innings Rahul scored at a strike rate ranging from 110.6 to 141, Kings lost seven of these encounters. The success percentage dropped significantly to just 46.1%. The average strike rate for Rahul in these 13 innings was a mere 124.7.

So, Rahul the anchor was adversely affecting the chances of his franchise. Run-scoring and consistency were not enough – the rate at which the runs were scored was equally important and this is where Rahul the opener was letting his team down.

Most of these restrictions were self-imposed. Rahul was almost reluctant to take risks. Despite having all the shots in the book and his immense talent, he preferred to play within himself in his comfort zone, even at the cost of hampering his team’s chances to win the encounter.

It was the same story for LSG.

Anchor Rahul Counter-Productive For LSG

Rahul did not learn from his mistakes with the Kings and was dogmatic in his approach at the top of the order even for LSG. He played the role of the anchor, seldom showcasing his true potential by maximizing his stroke-play.

Rahul has 12 50-plus scores for LSG. Only five of these have come at a scoring rate in excess of 150 and not surprisingly, LSG have been victorious in four of these encounters. On the other hand, LSG have lost four of the seven matches in which Rahul has crossed fifty but at a strike rate ranging between 111.47 and 136.2, again showcasing that his role as an accumulator at the top of the order was having a counter-productive effect on LSG’s chances.

Not only does he not maximize his own potential to score more runs but also puts enormous pressure on the middle-order by consuming precious deliveries in the powerplay.

Rahul In 2024: Failing To Keep Pace

Rahul was the highest run-getter for LSG in IPL 2024 with an aggregate of 520 runs but again, the problem was his scoring rate. 2024 was a landmark season in IPL history where bat dominated ball like never before – the season witnessed soaring run-rates, record totals, fastest hundreds, annihilation of bowlers in the powerplay – almost every opener tuned himself to this revolution in the T20 format. But Rahul did not and had a strike rate of just 136.12 in the season.

The average strike rate for an opener in the season was 154.67! Rahul was way behind the norm and could not adjust his game to the trend of the season. Just for perspective, as many as 19 openers (min. 150 runs) had a higher strike rate than Rahul in the tournament. Jake Fraser-McGurk, at the top of the pack, had a strike rate of 238.63 and was followed by Abhishek Sharma who scored at 202.06 per hundred deliveries.

Even amongst the 10 openers who scored a minimum of 400 runs in the season, it was Rahul who had the lowest strike rate. Rahul’s balls-per-boundary ratio of 5.97 was also the lowest amongst these 10 batters.

Every top-order batter adjusted his game, improvised and innovated. Even Virat Kohli played aggressor, scoring at a rate of 154.69. But Rahul rarely displayed that brutal side of his batting despite meeting with tremendous success whenever he unleashed his destructive game – it was almost as if he was deliberately trying to prove a point – but in the process was only harming his team’s chances of winning the encounter.

Rahul had a strike rate of just 131.88 in the powerplay in a season where the openers were going bonkers and breaking new records in every encounter. The average strike rate in the powerplay in 2024 was 148.8. Rahul, again, was way behind the norm. The fastest 15 in the first six overs had strike rates ranging from 154 to 251.

Overall, in his IPL career, Rahul has scored at a strike rate of in excess of 140 only twice – he scored at a rate of 146.49 in 2016 and struck at 158.41 in 2018.

Rahul’s inability and in some ways, unwillingness and rigidity to change his game to the demands of T20 cricket, have reduced his impact as a batter at the top of the order. He may still pile on the big runs season after season but that is not enough anymore.

It is high time that Rahul evolves with the format.