LSG owner Heated argument with KL Rahul

When cricket was practically a sideshow in 2008, the Indian Premier League had gone a long way. Players were treated like commodities just because they had gone under the hammer, franchise owners, flush with having “bought” some of the hottest properties in world cricket, strutted around with hardly disguised hubris. After-parties were also popular.

Gradually, it became apparent that the success of the IPL would depend only on the calibre of cricket. As a result, a few of the frills swiftly and happily disappeared. Cricket became the IPL’s USP in the post-Lalit Modi era, as it should have always been, and the phrase “professionalism” now has a new meaning.

Nevertheless, certain things never change. An example would be team owner Sanjiv Goenka’s outburst in public against Lucknow SuperGiants captain KL Rahul following the side’s ten-wicket thrashing at the hands of a rampaging Sunrisers Hyderabad.

This is just pathetic from @LucknowIPL owner
Never saw SRH management with players on the field or even closer to dressing room irrespective of so many bad seasons and still face lot of wrath for getting involved. Just look at this @klrahul leave this shit next year #SRHvsLSG pic.twitter.com/6NlAvHMCjJ
— SRI (@srikant5333) May 8, 2024

The words or language that Goenka used during his on-field “interaction” with Rahul, who will turn ten in December and has captained the nation in all three formats, are unknown. The franchise owner appeared to be furious at how easily Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma were able to chase down a competitive score of 165 for four, as seen by the optics. For Rahul and his boys, losing by ten wickets with an astounding 62 deliveries left must have been very humiliating.

Goenka’s rebuke, as indicated by his body language and gestures, was unprofessional and unedifying at a moment when he ought to have comforted him or at the very least held his horses. Obviously, he wasn’t talking to head coach Justin Langer or the captain about dinner plans?

Though it is far from business, sport has taken on aspects of the commercial world. Even if a cricket team is assembled with the world’s finest players, success is not guaranteed. The wealthiest player will always win if the results of games were determined only by the amount of checks distributed. The inaugural IPL season demonstrated how drastically different reality is from this presumption when the least attractive and most disciplined of the eight original sides, the Rajasthan Royals, defied all expectations by winning the title thanks to Shane Warne’s wizardry.

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IS Fate is turning its face towards KL Rahul after MS Dhoni

It is unknown to the general public if Goenka has competed at a fair and representative level in any sport. Maybe he hasn’t, because if he had, he would have shown understanding and compassion right away after Rahul and his teammates were left dumbfounded by a terrible beating. Cleaning soiled sheets in public is by no means a charming behaviour; to do so in one of the busiest areas of the stadium, where hundreds of onlookers are watching every move with a critical eye, speaks volumes about apathy, if not conceit.

KL Rahul being calm despite all the conversation

To Rahul’s great credit, he remained composed and stoically faced whatever was hurled at him in spite of the provocation from the most unexpected quarter. “Hey, aren’t you supposed to me in my corner?” he must have been thinking. On multiple occasions, Rahul has dominated and battled the world’s top bowlers. Although he’s handled vicious bouncers and pinpoint-accurate yorkers with ease, this was a beamer; the fire was pointed directly at him, but the skipper remained composed, displaying a maturity that should have made the older man sulking next to him blush.

It’s likely that some of what was said could eventually get up in the public realm. It’s also likely that the spin doctors will act quickly and say that there was no criticism and that the owner’s emotions and the noise from the stadium caused the “damaging” images. Of course, not many will purchase that. With a chance to still qualify for the playoffs, where does all of this leave the team? How will the spirit of the group be? What about Rahul himself, a delicate person who has endured a good deal of criticism in the past few years but has always, always carried himself with honour?

Maybe Goenka should reconsider if he wants us to believe that he is more disappointed than the eleven players on the field and the other six in the dugout, whose professional pride must have been severely damaged following the Head-Abhishek assault. And acknowledge that criticising someone in public, much less a senior and well-respected India international, is juvenile, petty, and puerile. Unquestionably not acceptable.