Follow UsIn the last week, one real incident that broke the internet was the animated conversation between Lucknow Super Giants’ owner Sanjiv Goenka and captain KL Rahul. In the aftermath of the loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad, the duo were recorded on air having quite an animated conversation.
LSG’s head coach and someone who has seen that conversation from close quarters Justin Langer revealed that the chat was just about passion and gesturing.
“So, when I saw the reaction the other night, it was like the fifth surprise of my life. Anyone who knows Mr Goenka or anyone who knows KL Rahul …they’re the calmest, most peaceful men on the planet. So, when I saw there was a bit of arms going on about, I thought I’ve never seen this before because they’re both so calm,” Langer told RevSportz.
“But then, when I went and listened to the conversation, it was just the passion and the gesturing. Actually, they were just talking about where our plan went wrong for the game. And it went wrong! We had a really bad game. Travis Head, the openers for Sunrisers [Hyderabad] were brilliant. Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar Kumar] bowled beautifully to us early, and they beat us really well,” he added.
Langer also added that the conversations between Goenka, Rahul and himself have been quite chilled out, and the trio share a good rapport between them.
“That’s the funny thing about the aftermath of what happened. No one knew what was said. And I was like, I’m so surprised, as with the birth of my daughters, because I heard what was said, and it was all about the plan. Just a bit of cricket talk. In a lot of ways, I’m laughing about it. It’s been such an awesome relationship so far between Mr Goenka, Shashwat, his son, KL and myself. It’s been brilliant, so chilled out,” he added.
So, does Goenka have an active say in the team selection? Langer spilled the beans, stating that the owners have never got in the way of the team selection, with the discussion always revolving around their plans for a particular game.
“When I came to the IPL – and this is my first year – I heard lots of talk about the owners getting involved in selection. That’s not my experience. It’s been incredible. The truth is, every day, KL and I meet with Mr Goenka and his son. And it’s: ‘What are you guys thinking today?’ [And we say] This is what we’re thinking, this is our plan. He might ask a few little questions, and then we have a discussion. And he goes: ‘Okay, well done. Good luck.’ That’s it, every time. It’s been really refreshing.”
Another aspect that really caught the attention of Langer was how the Indian players are perenially under immense pressure and scrutiny, given the talent pool in the country. Langer revealed that form and captaincy comes with the art of dealing with high pressure.
“One of my strong observations, being in the IPL and in India, is how much pressure the Indian players are under. People talk of them making a lot of money. You know why? Because there’s so much talent in this country, it’s blowing me away. How’s KL [Rahul] going to handle the pressure today (laughs)? You don’t make so many runs and captain India unless you’re a master of dealing with pressure.”
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