Dubai: My first impression about KL Rahul as a T20 captain was that he goes in his shell and not proactive. But honestly he has proved all his detractors wrong this IPL by not only leading from the front for his new franchise Lucknow Super Giants with the bat, but also has made smart bowling moves all along.
Sunday’s game was an ideal example. After scoring 77 runs against Delhi Capitals, Rahul had gone off the field due to an injury. And his absence on the field as a captain was immediately felt when Mitchell Marsh and Rishabh Pant counter-attacked the Lucknow bowlers and were running away with the game, scoring at 11 runs an over and were 70 after 7 overs.
Spontaneous decision
That is when Rahul came back and brought in Krishnapa Gowtham and broke the threatening partnership. He ensured that Krunal Pandya did not bowl to Rishabh Pant, who had taken Krunal for 19 runs in an over. And got in Mohsin Khan too, who had a terrific game to knock over Pant and the dangerous Romvell Powell.
His decision making on the field was spontaneous and all his players have been responding well to the captain’s call. So far Rahul has scored 451 runs at an average of 56 and a strike-rate of almost 150 and ensured that whenever he has got a start, he stayed till the end to give his team a good total to defend. No wonder, his team has got 14 points in 10 games and is just one game away from making it to the play-offs.
Nothing succeeds like success and when the captain leads from the front, the team is bound to do well. You must have heard the name of the captain I am talking about: KL Rahul
