Former Indian all-rounder, Suresh Raina reckons that KL Rahul will bring a calming presence to the Indian team during the upcoming 5-match series against South Africa. In the absence of stalwarts, including skipper Rohit Sharma, former skipper Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah who were rested for the T20I series, KL Rahul will be leading a young 18-man squad when India host South Africa in 5 T20Is from June 9.

While Rahul’s captaincy was criticized during India’s tour of South Africa after India lost a Test and all 3 ODIs under his leadership, Rahul was in his element as a skipper with the new IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the 2022 edition. Rahul, as usual, led from the front with the bat, scoring in excess of 600 runs. More importantly, he led the LSG squad, taking them to the playoffs in the first season.

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Talking about KL Rahul, during a recent chat on Star Sports, Suresh Raina said, “He has looked very calm and composed as a captain in recent times and the players selected need a leader like KL Rahul. There is Kuldeep (Yadav) and Chahal, both will play together.”

He further added, “There are new fast bowlers – Umran Malik, the way he has bowled, and then Arshdeep. Both Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik, whose performance has been very good in the IPL, will also be there. So I feel his (Rahul’s) presence will bring calmness and the South African players are also good, so it will be a very good contest.”

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Rishabh Pant has been named deputy for the T20I series and all eyes will be on the young Delhi Capitals skipper. Notably, Rahul and Pant are the only 2 cricketers who are part of India’s squad for both South Africa T20Is and the one-off Test in England in July.