“KL was supposed to be right here this afternoon to play within the apply game tonight, however sadly, he is had a hold-up on the aeroplane,” Langer mentioned on Wednesday in a digital media convention. “He’ll be on the floor afterward tonight, so he’ll in all probability arrive simply after the beginning of the day’s play.”
“He’ll be round for the primary time to be with the boys and to be with the crew. Everybody’s trying ahead to seeing him. We all know he has labored very laborious to tick off all his return-to-play protocols. He is labored very laborious. He is been practising, he is been hitting heaps of balls. He is hopefully ready to go. It is going to be good to have the captain with us.”
*ESPNcricinfo discovered that Rahul did be part of his team-mates in coaching afterward Wednesday night.
“I have not been teaching for 2 years since I left the Australian cricket crew, and for 2 years I have been sleeping very properly at evening,” Langer mentioned, laughing. “Now, it is laborious to sleep at evening as a result of it is very laborious to match a lot expertise into 11 positions. It is a good downside to have. It is a candy downside, however we’ll work it out. It is good to have a lot expertise in our squad.
“My view – and I’ve mentioned this for in all probability 25 years – [is that] if the crew does properly, then everybody will get rewarded. And subsequently, from KL’s level of view, if he captains the Lucknow Tremendous Giants to an IPL victory, it means he would’ve performed properly himself and he would’ve captained very properly, and he would’ve wicket-kept very properly.
“If we’ve got crew success, everybody will likely be rewarded. That’ll be the message for all of the gamers, together with Bishi [Ravi Bishnoi] and KL, and there is a few others who will likely be vying for T20 World Cup spots. That is all half of the game we play. The extra they focus on enjoying properly for Lucknow the extra their possibilities of being chosen will enhance.”
Langer will likely be teaching within the IPL for the primary time in his profession, and mentioned he has been “blown away” by the expertise he has seen in LSG’s pre-season coaching. “I can’t imagine the depth of expertise in India,” he mentioned. “I’ve seen some gamers already, simply in our franchise, [and] my thoughts is blown away by the quantity of younger expertise on this nation.”
He additionally mentioned that he has been “all throughout” the intensive work that has been carried out on the pitches at Ekana Stadium, LSG’s residence venue, since final yr’s IPL. The pitches tended to play gradual and low in IPL 2023, with solely three crew totals above 170 throughout the seven matches staged in Lucknow, however Langer mentioned there have been indicators of enchancment through the 50-over World Cup.
“We have skilled right here now. We had a apply game final evening beneath lights, and we have had two superb coaching periods on the center wickets, and the pitches had been glorious – very, superb… they recognised that we wanted to enhance the pitches from final yr, so we’re all very hopeful that we see glorious pitches. From what I’ve seen to this point, although, we’ve got nothing to fear about.”
GMT 1815 The story was up to date with affirmation that Rahul skilled along with his team-mates on Wednesday.
