IPL 2020: Strike Rate is Very, Very Overrated - KL Rahul Defends His Batting Approach

KL Rahul holds the orange cap for most runs in IPL 2020 currently, but his strike rate in the tournament has come under the scanner. The Kings XI Punjab is striking at 136.68 on an average, but in his last four matches, he has made 11 (16), 63 (52), 17 (19) and 69 (54) - all in KXIP losses.

Following their defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday, Rahul defended his approach saying strike rate is very very overrated.

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"Look, I think strike rate is very, very overrated. For me, it's only about how I can win games for my team," Rahul said at the post-match press conference. "On a certain day if I think 120 can win the game for my team, I will do that. This is how I bat. I like to take responsibility as a leader.

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"Yes, we make mistakes. I'm not saying I haven't made a few mistakes, but you learn each day as a leader and batter. It's a partnership when you're in the middle as a batting group, every player has different roles in the team and those roles change with each game. So I try to do the best I can, try and assess and play according to that. At the end of the day, I need to walk out of the ground knowing I've got my team as close to winning or try to win the game. That is the most important thing."

KXIP also made three changes to the playing XI for Thursday's game, including dropping Sarfaraz Khan who had done little wrong in the few opportunities he got to bat in.

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"When you see a team at the bottom of the table, you start thinking a lot of things are not going right," Rahul said. "We can accept a lot of things haven't gone right, but no team has their top six firing. Couple of them will be in good form, couple of them may not, so it's important for the in-form players to get as many runs for the team. Openers are always - I won't say under pressure - expected to give good starts. I'm not very worried but if the set batsmen or those in good form can get as many runs for the team, that will help, make the team look good.

Rahul, though, was full of praise for Arshdeep Singh and Ravi Bishnoi, KXIP's young players who shared five wickets between them against SRH.

"IPL is the biggest platform, the youngsters have been working really, really hard in the three weeks that we've been here," Rahul said. "Arshdeep and Bishnoi - so good to see them me among the wickets. They bowled high-pressure overs, and it's great to see how they held their nerve to bowl those big overs for the team at this platform. That will give them and the group a lot of confidence. Small things like these are infectious. It can spread to the rest of the group quickly. So really happy to see how they bowled."

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