Watch: LSG owner's outburst at KL Rahul goes viral; fans slam Sanjiv Goenka

After Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) were handed a 10-wicket thrashing by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in an IPL 2024 game on Wednesday night (May 8), team owner was seen having an animated chat with captain KL Rahul.

Chasing 166, SRH openers Travis Head (89 not out off 30 balls) and Abhishek Sharma (75 off 28 balls) reached the target in just 9.4 overs scoring 167/0 to set records at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad.

At the post-match presentation ceremony, Rahul said he was lost for words.

“I am lost for words. We have watched that kind of batting on TV. But this is unreal batting. Everything seemed to find the middle of the bat. Kudos to their skills. They have worked hard on their six-hitting skills. They didn't give us a chance to know what the pitch played in the second innings. It was hard to stop them as they teed off from ball one,” he said.

The video of LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka reprimanding Rahul has gone viral and fans are fuming at Goenka.

Many on social media slammed Goenka for “scolding” Rahul in front of the cameras and some believed if wanted to have a discussion with the LSG captain he should have done behind closed doors.

Star Sports, the host broadcaster of IPL 2024, captioned the video of Goenka-Rahul conversation as “animated reactions from LSG camp”. For most part of the conversation, Rahul remains calm and is speaking only a few words. Also, Goenka was seen chatting with LSG coach and former Australian opener Justin Langer.

Former South African captain Graeme Smith felt the owner was “passionate” and said the conversation should have happened behind closed doors.

“It’s the owner who is very passionate about his team. His team has taken an absolute drubbing, and the emotions have rolled over. You feel these conversations should be happening behind closed doors. There are so many cameras around; they're not missing anything. KL Rahul would now go to press conferences and other things and potentially explain what's been discussed,” Smith said on IPL’s official streaming channel JioCinema.

Former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said Goenka was expressing his displeasure at the way LSG played.

“He’s on his head, isn’t he? He’s voicing his concerns, and KL is going, ‘hang on, not quite sure what are you asking us to do’. Today was pretty clear. SRH were on from ball one in the field, and LSG were a bit conservative in terms of how they operate. If you compare that with how Sunrisers play, no doubt there was a distinct gap. He's voicing his displeasure,” Hesson said on the streaming platform.

“He has done well to keep his cool here,” opined former New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris on the streaming platform.