IPL: Rahul ducks LSG retention bouncer with subtle reply

Mumbai, Aug 27: Does statistics guarantee success in sports? In a sports like cricket, can expectations from a player based on his career data, fall flat on a particular day or for a given period? 

Well, any sensible person with average sports and cricket understanding, would agree that success is not always guaranteed in sports. A cricket player's form may be up and down at times. HIs performance cannot be the same in every match and that is bound to have an impact on the team's result.

These lines hold lot of relevance if the India cricketer K L Rahul's opinion during a recent podcast is to be considered seriously.

But to understand Rahul's reaction, we have to go back to a last year Indian Premier League (IPL) post match scenario. 

After LSG lost a close match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 8, 2024, LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka showed his dissatisfaction at skipper KL Rahul. That was widely discussed in the press and social media as well. 

As the IPL mega auction inches closer before the 2025 season, there are murmurs that LSG may not retain Rahul as their skipper and even may not be keen to have him in their squad as well.

Prior to that in a recent podcast, Rahul cleared the air stating some IPL owners come from business backgrounds and they rely on data for a player's success. He further stated that data doesn't guarantee success in sports always.

Rahul in his subtle message stated that past records, data or statistics don't guarantee that you will win every game. You might get the best players based on data, but they might have a horrible year. Every player can have a bad day in sports. There's nothing in sports that guarantees success. There's no formula that can get you success, he added.

Rahul even met Goenka on Monday at the LSG owner's office. But the details of their discussions are yet to be made public, revealed sources.

With Rahul stating his mind in the recent podcast, the discussions over his retention at LSG, may get fresh wings. But his take on data, player selection and success in sports are expected to get support from cricket experts and his fans. That is for sure.