He is very mature and has international experience: Anil Kumble shows faith in KL Rahul as captain
Kings XI Punjab head coach Anil Kumble backed KL Rahul to do wonders in the role of captaincy for the franchise. Rahul was appointed the captain of KXIP after Ravichandran Ashwin was traded to Delhi Capitals last year. The stylish batman has been an integral part and match-winner for Punjab based franchise since his arrival.
Kumble, who was also appointed as the head coach of KXIP this season, feels that Rahul has the international experience to lead the team.
“KL is very relaxed, he is very mature, I have known him for a long time. He has the experience, international experience, having played this long and of course, the last couple of years he has been a part of the Kings XI and he has been their main player. He knows the team very well’ he knows the youngsters really well. He is very excited and he is very keen. He has his hands full by being a batsman, keeper and then the captain,” Kumble said in a video posted by KXIP on their Twitter handle.
Rahul has been a lone warrior for KXIP in the past two seasons as he slammed 659 runs from 14 matches comprising six half-centuries in IPL 2018. He continued his excellent run in last season too, where he scored 593 runs at an average 53.90 with a century and six fifties.
Kumble is also confident of his team to perform well this season as he fells KXIP have a very balanced squad with a mix of youngsters and experienced campaigners.
“It feels really nice, it feels a bit strange to come on to the field like this and then have the entire squad, I mean not necessarily the entire squad but the set of players that are here. So it’s wonderful to be on the ground and have a hit, it’s nice to be outdoors,” Kumble said.
“We have high hopes from this season, we have a really good squad, a very balanced squad, some experienced and some youngsters. I am getting to know them now and seeing them play for the first time here, some of them in nets, so yeah just looking forward to build on the preparation and to be ready for the IPL.”
