Former Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain KL Rahul has stated that he would never go and ask someone for captaincy. He also added that if he proves himself to be good enough, the captaincy will come to him as well. Before leading LSG in the IPL for three seasons, he also led Punjab Kings (PBKS) for a couple of years. While he failed to lead either of the two franchises to an IPL title, he proved to be the most consistent batter on both sides as well.
In an interview with Star Sports, Rahul said, “I would never go and ask someone for it. If you feel that my leadership skills are good enough and if you find something good in the way I play my cricket, in the way I handle myself, and the way I handled my team in the last four to five years… If you find it worthy, then of course I am happy to do it, but it’s not something that is a make or break for me. I just want to be part of a team that has a good environment. You feel loved, cared and respected in that environment and everyone in the franchise has that one single goal – to win the IPL. If that’s there, then that’s the perfect fit for me.”
Asked about his preferred role, the veteran Karnataka batter replied that he remains as flexible as ever. Rahul is also expected to trigger bidding wars and end up as one of the costliest buys in the mega auction as well.
“I have always been flexible in my head – whether it’s opening, whether middle-order, whether lower-order, keeping, fielding. Any of it, I am okay with any role or any responsibility that is given to me,” he added. “I most enjoyed playing at RCB. It’s home. You get to spend a lot of time to spend at home. I know the Chinnaswamy really well, I have grown up playing there. So, yeah, I really enjoyed playing at RCB. Of course (Would you like to be back at RCB?) Bengaluru is home. People there know me as a local Kannada boy. Would be nice to go back there and get an opportunity. But, yeah, it’s an auction year, you can go anywhere.”
However, KL Rahul, who led the LSG in the last three seasons, opened up on his exit from the franchise, saying that he wanted to move on to a ‘lighter’ team environment where he could find ‘more freedom’.
“I just felt like I wanted to start fresh, to explore my options, and to play where I could find more freedom and a lighter, more balanced team atmosphere. The pressure in the IPL is already so high, but when you look at teams like Gujarat and CSK, even when they win or lose, they seem balanced, and their dressing rooms are calm. That’s really important for me as a player—it gives all the players the best chance to perform,” he added. “We tried to create that atmosphere at LSG with Andy Flower and GG (Gautam Gambhir) initially, and then last year with Justin, and it was a brilliant atmosphere in the change room. But sometimes you just need to move on and find something that works better for you.”
