Lucknow: The stage for the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) is set. The action of the 17th season of IPL is starting on Friday i.e. 22nd March. The first match of IPL 2024 will be played between defending champions CSK vs RCB. The opening match of the tournament will be played at 8 pm at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
All the teams are ready for the Mahakumbh of cricket starting from Friday. Meanwhile, KL Rahul, who is returning after injury, has reached Lucknow to join his team Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for the tournament. He joined the team after the practice match on Wednesday due to flight delay. Captain Rahul shared his excitement for the season under new head coach Justin Langer.
He shared a picture with Langer from Lucknow on social media, in which the captain wrote, “Good morning of the new era!” Langer has previously been the coach of Australia’s men’s team. He has been appointed the new head coach of the Lucknow team this season.
He will replace Andy Flower in the team, whose two-year contract with the franchise expired after the IPL 2023 season. After making his IPL debut in 2022, Lucknow under Flower’s guidance finished third in the points table twice and reached the playoffs, but they failed to progress beyond the eliminator in 2022 and 2023.
Rahul was almost out of IPL last year due to injury. Rahul had to face a problem in his right quadriceps. Rahul had to undergo surgery after injuring his right thigh while fielding for Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL 2023 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore on May 1 last year. However, after this he made a good comeback in the Asia Cup and ODI World Cup.