Appointed captain of Kings XI Punjab for the next year's edition of the IPL, KL Rahul will hopefully "grow in stature" as a cricketer, with a much stronger temperament to his and India's benefit, although he might not continue keeping wickets for the side, said head coach Anil Kumble.
Rahul was the obvious candidate to take over the leadership mettle since off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin's departure from the camp with stellar performances in the last two seasons, scoring 659 runs in 2018 at an average of 54.91 and 593 runs in 2019 at an average of 53.90.
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However, to ensure there isn't too heavy a burden on his shoulder, Kumble and the rest of the management may prudently hand over the gloves to someone else.
"We took a decision of elevating KL Rahul because I feel that an Indian captain is essential to build a franchise around a player and for me KL Rahul determines that," Kumble told CricketNext.
"In the last two years that he has been a part of Kings XI, he has been the best performer for Kings XI and he commands the respect from the other players and he is the best player for us in this format."
"I felt not just from a Kings XI perspective but from KL Rahul's individual growth as well, this is the right time for him to take up this leadership position because I feel that this role is going to help him grow as a person, grow in stature, as a leader and it'll also help him understand his game not just in this format but also help him understand from the other formats as well."
He may not have yet fulfiled his potential in the other two formats playing for India. But in T20s, Rahul has been a force to reckon with whether in KXIP or the national colours. "We know the ability and quality of KL Rahul and I'd like to see him play for India in all the three formats and I strongly believe that with this new role that we have given to KL Rahul, it'll only help him grow as a player, as a person and it'll only help him in his cricket," Kumble said.
"Some of the interactions that I have had with the complexion of the team that we wanted to put together in this auction, his thoughts are very clear and he is very clear to what he wants and how he wants to utilise the particular player in the role he defines. So in that sense, I see him someone who understands the game very well."
“Of course it helps him being behind the stumps. We are still not sure whether he will be donning the gloves or is it going to be Nicolas Pooran we will decide that closer to the IPL," he added.
"But having said that, the other thing that certainly helps him is a few of his teammates are around him. Whether it is Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, or K Gowtham who he has played most of his cricket at the junior level, also for Karnataka."
(Inputs from CricketNext)
