The upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will see KL Rahul lead for the first time. He will be at the helm of the Kings XI Punjab as they continue their hunt for maiden IPL trophy. A good season with Punjab can put Rahul as India’s future captain, reckons Sunil Gavaskar.
Meanwhile, Punjab handed Rahul the captaincy role in the wake of Ravichandran Ashwin shifting his base to Delhi. It remains to be seen whether the added responsibility of captaincy brings the best out of him or not. KL Rahul has been in stellar form in the ongoing year and will hope to keep up the excellent run.
Gavaskar backs Rahul to take India’s leadership role
As Rahul embarks on a new journey, former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar said that some decent performances could also put Rahul in the reckoning for India’s leadership roles. The comment comes after Aakash Chopra backed KL Rahul to replace Virat Kohli as India’s captain in the future.
“There is a great chance for KL Rahul to show that he can score runs when given the responsibility. Secondly, he can show that he is capable of captaining a side and how he moulds his team and extracts effort. If he does that well he can even go on to become the vice-captain of the Indian team,” Gavaskar told on Sports Tak.
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“There are still players in the Indian team like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane. But going forward, he can be an option for the selection committee and can also become India’s future captain. So, this can be a huge tournament for KL Rahul as a skipper,” he stated.
Furthermore, Sunil Gavaskar also backed young leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi to grab the limelight in IPL 2020. The youngster, wh grabbed eyeballs in the U-19 World Cup is a part of Kings XI Punjab. Gavaskar urged the management to play from the start considering the spinning tracks in the UAE.
“I will pick India U19 player Ravi Bishnoi and give him a chance in my XI at the beginning of the tournament. Because in the UAE, there will not be much of pressure on him,” Gavaskar added.