Sanjay Manjrekar didn’t hold back as he made a brutal analysis of KL Rahul’s batting approach after Delhi Capitals’ eight-wicket defeat to Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday. DC put on a poor batting display, scoring 155/7 in 20 overs. CSK chased down the target with ease, reaching 159/2 in 17.3 overs.
After five overs, the DC star had registered 12 off 12 balls and then was dismissed in the first ball of the sixth. Receiving a tossed up delivery from Akeal Hosein, Rahul tried to go inside out over cover, but ended up slicing it in the air for Ruturaj Gaikwad to take a simple catch.
‘Signed death warrant for your team’
Taking to Instagram, Manjrekar said, “It’s almost like odd and even games, where sometimes he goes after the bowling straightaway, which is the KL Rahul you want.”
“But then he feels like he has earned the right and becomes responsible for the rest of the batters to come, and then plays an innings like that. Once you get out after getting to 12 off 12, you’ve signed the death warrant for your team. After those insipid first six overs, DC were done for the game.
“KL Rahul, after playing a brilliant innings in the previous match, got 12 off 12 balls in the first six overs. That’s two overs at a strike rate of 100. When you have openers going at 200, you can’t have an opener scoring 12 off 12 in the hope that he’ll explode later,” he added.
Despite Manjrekar’s criticism, Rahul has actually been in good form for this season and is currently third in the Orange Cap race. In IPL 2026, Rahul has managed 445 runs in 10 games at an average of 49.44 and has also been striking at 180.89. The DC player has also registered a ton and three half-centuries this season.
It wasn’t just Rahul, who flopped vs CSK, it was also his other teammates. Rahul’s opening partner, Pathum Nissanka, was dismissed for 19 runs off 15 balls. Meanwhile, skipper Axar Patel could only get two off six balls.
Speaking after the defeat, Axar said, “Obviously, the way the wicket was playing in the first innings, I felt that yes, 155 was a good score. But since we were playing with eight batters, I felt we were about 10-15 runs short.”
Commenting on his side’s batting form, he said, “Yes, obviously, considering our batting, I think that’s a positive. Even after losing five wickets, the way we finished at the end was good. So yes, that is a positive. But I feel in bowling, I missed my partner Kuldeep.”
