'KXIP brilliantly led by KL Rahul, he has grown into captaincy role'

Sunil Gavaskar

Kings XI Punjab's impressive performances under the captaincy of opener KL Rahul at the ongoing IPL 2020 would probably be reason why national selectors have named him as Virat Kohli's deputy in both Indian limited-over (ODI, T20I) squads for the upcoming tour in Australia in the absence of an injured Rohit Sharma.

Speaking exclusively on Star Sports show Cricket Live, Team India's batting legend Sunil Gavaskar praised KL Rahul for his captaincy and spoke on how Anil Kumble is a fighter and how his spirit has been transferred to Kings XI Punjab, "You know, they have just found the winning way! They seem to have lost that at the start of the tournament. Remember, every time they were close to winning and they went into the super over in their first-ever game and then again, after that they were losing in the final overs. Then, somewhere down the line, they found that key, that takes them to a win and the last few games, they have played exceptional cricket. Last match, to defend a 126 takes a lot of doing, takes a lot of self-belief and that's what they showed. They have been brilliantly led by KL Rahul. KL Rahul has grown into the captaincy role, and though he didn't score as many as he normally does, he made sure, with his field placing, with his bowling changes, even giving Chris Jordan that 19th over and then trusting Arshdeep to defend 14 in the final over is fantastic. Do not forget the role of Anil Kumble! Anil Kumble has been a fighter all his cricketing career, you could see when he went out with a broken jaw and bowled, and that sprit is seen in the KXIP. That is the reason why they have comeback from impossible situations and are now in the hunt for the place in the playoffs."

KL Rahul has represented Team India in 36 Test matches, 32 One-day International matches, and 42 T20 International matches. KL has led from the front in this season's Indian Premier League 13 in UAE with 595 runs, scored at an average of 59.5. Rahul has 124 runs more than his nearest rival Shikhar Dhawan and is favourite to win the Orange Cap, as of now.

Inputs from IANS

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