'We came so close to winning the IPL final but fell short: LSG owner reflects on the past in cryptic message to KL Rahul'

Lucknow Super Giants owner Sanjiv Goenka recently reflected on his time with the Rising Pune Supergiant, mentioning the successful partnership he had with MS Dhoni and Steve Smith. This comparison seemed to indirectly suggest that captain KL Rahul and the current LSG team management were to blame for the poor decision-making in IPL 2024. Despite making the playoffs in their first two seasons, LSG slipped to the seventh spot in the last edition, leading to speculations about KL Rahul's future with the franchise. Goenka and Rahul have reportedly had several meetings since then, but they have yet to come to a consensus on the way forward for the team.

Amid all this, LSG unveiled Zaheer Khan as their mentor. The former India pacer will take over the spot left vacant by Gautam Gambhir ahead of IPL 2024.

Goenka felt LSG lacked an Indian brain like Gambhir in the last season to help them make crucial calls in crunch situations.

"Last year, I felt that an Indian mind, you can call him a mentor or anything, who has that fierce desire to win, was lacking a bit. Zaheer, even when he was a player, he was very determined to win. That was his only aim. I want that," he told Sports Tak.

A video of his animated discussion with captain KL Rahul following LSG's defeat to SRH this year, went viral. Without naming Rahul or the leadership group, Goenka dropped strong hints that he was not satisfied with the team management's reasoning behind their poor show in the 17th edition.

"I am not satisfied if someone comes and tells me we played badly today. Then, repeats the same thing the next two days. So I will ask him, ‘why?’ One player can be off-form, but XI players cannot be off-form every day. The decision-making role that Zaheer can play. The role that Gautam played was lacking last season. So my expectation from Zaheer is to work on that decision-making," he said.

Goenka brings Dhoni, Smith and RPS history to talk about goals for LSG

This is the second time that Goenka has owned an IPL team. His RPSG group owned Rising Pune Supergiant in IPL 2016 and 2017 when BCCI wanted two new franchises for two years to replace Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings.

In the first year, MS Dhoni led the team, but he was removed as captain before the next season and replaced by Smith. RPS reached the finals of IPL 2017 but failed to chase down 130 against Mumbai Indians despite being in a commanding position until the halfway stage.

Goenka said it was due to the team's inexperience. "The Super Giants family has been in the IPL for five years. Two of those were with Pune, and three were with Lucknow. When we reached the finals with Pune, it was a new and inexperienced team. You leave out Steve Smith and MS Dhoni, we didn't have much experience in the team," he said

"We were about to win the final, but due to our lack of experience, we lost. So making the right calls in those crunch moments is key."

Goenka's no experience in the team, barring Dhoni and Smith, however, is not true as RPS had the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwary, Dan Christian and Jaydev Unadkat in their ranks in the final.

"Mumbai have a habit of winning. Everyone should emulate their never-say-die attitude. It was Pune's match to win but they lost it by themselves because of the pressure applied by Mumbai. This attitude needs to be there in Lucknow. Otherwise, we would never win. We have to be confident in ourselves," he said.

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