DC vs LSG: Naveen-ul-Haq openly comes out in support of KL Rahul after Sanjiv Goenka's wrath

Lucknow Super Giants' Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq has extended his support to franchise captain KL Rahul after he was bashed by owner Sanjiv Goenka. 

KL Rahul had become subject to Sanjiv Goenka's anger after the Super Giants endured their 6th loss of IPL 2024 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad 2 days ago. With that loss, LSG missed out on a golden chance to reach the top 4 of the points table. Hyderabad grabbed the opportunity with both hands and moved to the 3rd spot instead of Lucknow who are in a must-win situation in their last 2 games. 

What happened between KL Rahul and Sanjiv Goenka?

With both the teams in a must-win situation, LSG traveled to the Rajiv Gandhi stadium to take on Hyderabad on the back of a 98-run loss to Kolkata. KL Rahul's side had batted first after winning the toss but the Lucknow batters eventually failed to make the most out of the surface in Uppal. 

The track was quite flat and was easy to bat on but the visitors struggled evidently. Quinton de Kock, who had returned in this match after missing a few games, departed after scoring just 2 runs. Marcus Stoinis could not make his Hulk-like power work as he became Bhuvaneshwar Kumar's second scalp for a score of 3. 

The most disappointing knock was of KL Rahul, who left the crease shortly after Stoinis' removal. Rahul, who has played a lot of cricket at the Rajiv Gandhi stadium, failed to make use of his experience and gave his wicket to Pat Cummins for a 33-ball 29 runs. With the initiation being extremely poor, LSG were not even looking close to scoring 150. 

Krunal Pandya was also unfortunate to get run out for 24. Lucknow were 57/3 in the 10th over when Nicholas Pooran and Ayush Badoni walked out to bat. The duo then put together a partnership of 99 runs for the 5th wicket and due to their efforts, LSG were able to put 165 on the board. 

In response, SRH's deadly opening duo - Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma wreaked havoc with their power-hitting ability. They dismantled the LSG bowling line-up with a 167-run opening and match-winning partnership. The duo finished off the game by 9.4 overs and picked up a one-sided 10-wicket victory in front of home support. 

After the match ended, KL Rahul was seen getting bashed by LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka who was seemingly unhappy with the result. 

Goenka was seen pointing towards the field while saying things in anger to KL Rahul. The moment was captured by the cameraman and since then, it has become one of the most talked about topics of IPL 2024. 

What did Naveen-ul-Haq say?

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A post shared by Naveen ul haq Murid (@naveen_ul_haq)

Naveen-ul-Haq took to his official Instagram handle and posted a picture with KL Rahul from the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Afghani pacer did not write anything against Sanjiv Goenka or in support of his skipper as he just added a heart emoji as the caption.