Despite losing two of their first three Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 matches, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) are looked upon as one of the most lethal teams in the tournament. The primary reason behind the KXIP’s success in the batting department has been the form of their two prolific openers– skipper KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal.

Rahul and Mayank Agarwal have been leading the batting unit of KXIP, but with their failure, they suffered a huge defeat against Mumbai Indians (MI). While chasing a daunting total of 192 for victory, KXIP could only manage 143 on the board after the Rahul-Mayank duo failed to stitch prolonged knocks.

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While leading the franchise for the first time from the front, Rahul has hit a purple patch, as he garnered a lot of praises from the cricket fraternity. Former Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar also lauded Rahul and compared him with RCB star AB de Villiers. During a show on Star Sports, Bangar said, “Everyone calls AB de Villiers Mr 360, I’d like to say KL Rahul is India’s 360.”

He further added, “He’s grown as a cricketer. He now believes he can win matches and he has done that he has single-handedly taken KXIP to match-winning positions this year.”

Mayank and Rahul are currently battling it out for the Orange Cap this year. Mayank currently is leading the charts with 246 runs in 4 matches at a mind-boggling average of 61.50 and a phenomenal strike rate of 166.21. Rahul isn’t far behind as he has scored 239 runs in as many matches at an impressive average of 79.66 and a strike rate of 148.44. One impressive fact is that both the flashy batsmen have scored centuries so far in the tournament.

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Talking about Mayank, Rahul said, “Until and unless that orange cap stays with Kings XI I’m happy. He’s (Agarwal) worked very hard and deserves that cap. I’m sure I’ll take it off him soon.”