A video of Indian Premier League Franchise Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) owner Sanjiv Goenka berating the team’s captain KL Rahul courted controversy on Thursday, May 9. In the video, Goenka can be seen engaged in a heated conversation with Rahul following the team’s massive defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in a crucial fixture on Wednesday night. The commentators could be heard saying such chats should have happened behind closed doors, and that Rahul has managed to keep his cool.
Several took offence to the misbehaviour of Goenka and pointed out that it was unprecedented for the management to rebuke players on the field.
“Hello @BCCI. KL Rahul is our hero, a top notch Indian cricketer. Who has given the right to this businessman to insult him in public? This is unprecedented, have never seen any team owner blast an Indian Cricketer PUBLICLY. Hope you’ll take action against the franchise. @JayShah (sic),” journalist Prashant Kumar wrote.
Another user posted the video with the caption “The supreme arrogance of a capitalist.”
Pointing out Rahul’s contributions to the Lucknow franchise, one social media user said Goenka was bashing him publicly in front of international media just after one game.
Raising questions about the condition of employees working under Goenka, another social media user said the behaviour of Goenka with Rahul was unprofessional and unacceptable.
In a lighter vein, one social media user said Rahul looked like a corporate employee having appraisal discussion with his boss.
LSG suffered a massive defeat on Wednesday when Sunrisers Hyderabad chased down the target of 166 in just 9.4 overs with 10 wickets to spare. KL Rahul, who opened the innings for Lucknow, received backlash for the slow start after he took 33 balls to score 29 runs. Travis Head of SRH was adjudged the man of the match for scoring 89 runs from 30 balls.