IPL 2018| Kings XI Punjab relying too much on Gayle and Rahul, admits coach Brad Hodge

After losing a low scoring encounter against Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday, where Kings XI Punjab failed to chase a modest 159 despite KL Rahul’s magnificent 70 balls 95, Brad Hodge has advised Punjab batsmen to look beyond their opening duo of Gayle and Rahul for help in order to reach the playoffs. The head coach of Punjab, however, sounded hopeful of their middle order to deliver going forward in the season.

“Yes I admit that we rely heavily on Chris Gayle and KL Rahul but that is the case with almost every team. It (middle-order) has been (a concern), for sure," said Hodge after the loss against Rajasthan Royals, as reported by WisdenIndia.  

"We know that KL is in great form and when Chris Gayle fires, anything can happen. We have got some extremely talented players and we need them to lift a little bit and contribute a little bit more to what they are doing," he added.

Pointing towards their innings, Hodge stated that Rahul did a magnificent job with the bat, but others should have taken the responsibility to chase down the total.

“Unfortunately, we did not have anyone to help KL Rahul get the job done. It is a slight area of concern. Every team has a couple of good players and the rest of the batting revolves around them. But we have been getting good contributions from others too. It was difficult. In hindsight it is different. Look, if he (Rahul) had pushed a bit harder and lost his wicket, then we might not have gotten this close. It is a different thing in hindsight,” said the Australian. 

"If you maintain a level, and if you have to chase 12 an over in the last five, you can get that but it probably got a little bit out of hand. You cannot leave it all on KL. If we had contributions from the middle order, we might have been in a better position. But that didn't happen," he added.

However, the head coach expressed his satisfaction over his team’s bowling performance in the season and claimed that it is been outstanding in this tournament so far. 

"I think our bowling unit has been outstanding throughout the tournament. That is probably the one area which is contributing well. But if someone is having a good day like that there is not much one can do about. I feel we bowled a fraction wide to Butler and he capitalized on it."