During his time with the Indian Premier League (IPL) team Punjab Kings (PBKS), former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer disclosed KL Rahul's dissatisfaction with team results, stating that the batter was "deeply frustrated" by losing games from winning positions and by narrow margins.
From 2018 to 2021, KL Rahul captained the PBKS team. With 670 runs in 14 innings at an average of 55.83 and a strike rate of 129.34, including a century and five fifties, he won the Orange Cap in 2020. However, PBKS placed sixth out of eight teams in both seasons when he was captain.
Jaffer discussed KL Rahul's ultra-cool leadership style and how, during Punjab's infamously close IPL finishes, the batter's always serene façade once gave way to great displeasure.
Jaffer also reminisced about his team's close defeats under KL's leadership, which infuriated the opening batsman and left him feeling "a little angry" while not saying "anything out of line."
"KL is naturally very composed, a bit reserved, and keeps to himself. You would not see him out and about much, as he mostly socializes within his close circle of friends. It is very rare to see him lose his cool or get visibly angry on or off the field.
But back when I was the batting coach at Punjab, every single game felt like a heartbreak. We were losing matches from winning positions, and almost every game was dragging down to the final over. After one of those close losses, a game we easily should have won, I saw him get genuinely angry for the first time. He didn't say anything out of line, but you could see how deeply frustrated he was with how badly we had played. That was the only time I saw KL Rahul a little angry,” Jaffer stated on Doordarshan’s The Great Indian Cricket Show.
KL Rahul is PBKS' leading run-getter, with 2,548 runs in 55 matches at an average of 56.62 and a strike rate of almost 140, with two centuries and 23 fifties in 55 innings.
KL Rahul moved to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in IPL 2022 and now plays for Delhi Capitals (DC). Punjab Kings are now captained by Shreyas Iyer, who led them to the IPL final in the 2025 season. They looked set to repeat the feat in IPL 2026 as well, but suffered a poor run of form in the second half of the tournament.
