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Lucknow Super Giants’ coach Justin Langer broke his silence on the controversial incident between franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka and captain KL Rahul. After LSG’s disappointing 10-wicket loss to SunRisers Hyderabad in one of their recent clashes, Goenka seemingly appeared to publicly scold Rahul for the loss. The video quickly spread like wildfire on social media and garnered attention from several fans and experts alike. A few days later, coach Langer opened up on the incident and revealed his first reaction on seeing the conversation.
Langer told RevSportz, “It was incredible. I’ve thought about this a lot over the last four days. I’ve had four surprises in my life. And they were the genders of my daughters when they were born. They kept coming out…‘It’s a girl’, ‘it’s a girl’, ‘it’s a girl’…Four girls, but we didn’t know leading up, so it was a great surprise. So, when I saw the reaction the other night, it was like the fifth surprise of my life.
Justin Langer breaks silence on KL Rahul-Sanjiv Goenka animated chat
Langer added, “Anyone who knows MrGoenka, or anyone who knows KL Rahul …they’re the calmest, most peaceful men on the planet. So, when I saw there was a bit of arms going on about, I thought I’ve never seen this before because they’re both so calm. But then, when I went and listened to the conversation, it was just the passion and the gesturing. Actually, they were just talking about where our plan went wrong for the game. And it went wrong! We had a really bad game.”
Sanjiv Goenka and his son don’t interfere in captain and coach’s functioning: Langer
Langer revealed that Sanjiv Goenka and his son don’t interfere in how he or his captain did their jobs. He said, “When I came to the IPL – and this is my first year – I heard lots of talk about the owners getting involved in selection. That’s not my experience. It’s been incredible. The truth is, every day, KL and I meet with Mr. Goenka and his son. And it’s: ‘What are you guys thinking today?’ [And we say] This is what we’re thinking, this is our plan. He might ask a few little questions, and then we have a discussion. And he goes: ‘Okay, well done. Good luck.’ That’s it, every time. It’s been really refreshing.”
He further stated, “It’s a great relationship. Only an hour ago, we were meeting and talking about our plans to try and beat Delhi Capitals. In fact, I’ve been surprised by how many times MrGoenka says to me: ‘I don’t know much about cricket, but this is what I’m thinking. This is what I might be seeing or hearing. What do you think?’ It’s like the teacher’s telling the student about the game. It’s beautiful. There’s been zero experience since I’ve been here of any stress with the owner.”
