KL Rahul started his captaincy duty with Punjab Kings.
The Indian Premier League (IPL 2022) season is just a few days away, and fans are looking forward to seeing how KL Rahul leads the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), one of two new franchises in this edition.
Captaincy is nothing new to Rahul, who has led Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the previous two IPL editions, and the batsman has revealed his one important takeaway from his time as the team's captain.
The Lucknow Super Giants will kick off their season on March 28 against Gujarat Titans in Pune.
"As far as the end numbers are concerned, I would be happy if I can do the same thing as the last 3-4 seasons. But this is one of my learnings as a leader; having good and powerful players in the lower-middle order is really important for the team to be successful in the long run. That is why we have picked the likes of Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder, Krunal Pandya, and Deepak Hooda in the middle order," Rahul told Sports Tak.
The right-handed hitter also discussed the importance of having a solid middle and lower order to succeed in the game's shortest format. He also mentioned that having a solid batting line-up allows the top-order to be aggressive right away.
"When your middle and lower-middle order is strong, it will give freedom to the openers to be aggressive in the first six. So yes, I play that role and I'll try to capitalize on the powerplay and get the team off to a good start. But at the same time, I've been a player who always tries to play the situation. I don't confine myself to a single role. If you need 130-140 runs to win, what's the point of playing at a strike rate of 200," said Rahul.
“I always think about how can I win the match for the team. I encourage my players to play the same way. We would be aggressive but we would put team ahead of the personal game. Here, no one can say 'this is the only way I can play; this is my natural game'. That is not how a team game should be played," the Lucknow skipper stated further.
The first match of the IPL 2022 season will be played on March 26 between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders.