KL Rahul Can Be A Better T20 Captain Than Virat Kohli: It is your first game as a captain. You are up against the likes of mighty Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Shreyash Iyer, and Marcus Stoinis. Your best hopes are an Indian veteran and an exciting West Indian fast bowler. Honestly, captaincy is the least likely option that you would look for.
However, KL Rahul conjured the magic of the highest order as the leader of the Punjab slew to command a performance that unfurled the most unexpected in the grandest fashion.
Opening things with Sheldon Cottrell and Mohammad Shami, KL Rahul rocked the brass of Delhi batting with Dhawan, Prithvi, and Hetmeyer walking to the pavilion in quick succession.
What followed thereafter was a relentless struggle from Pant and Shreyas Iyer to break free and the Kings XI Punjab spinners in the form of Bishnoi and Gowtham applying continuous brakes to put a screeching halt to the run flow.
It was absolutely delectable to watch how Rahul rotated between Gowtham and Bishnoi to apply brakes against the two of Delhi’s best.
Just when Bishnoi got rid of Pant with a ball angling away from the southpaw, KL Rahul played out another masterstroke bringing back Shami for his final over. The impact was instant. He got rid of a set Iyer on the first ball itself.
The reason one would call this a masterstroke is because of the grit needed to introduce this move as that means the unavailability of the best of your bowlers in the end and also making a wild gamble with the consideration of the fact that Iyer will go after Shami to break the spine of the Punjab attack.
KL Rahul had his calculations all in place as he could take this gamble keeping in mind that he still had overs from Jordan and Cottrell coming up. It is pretty evident that Delhi will slog in those final overs, however with experienced campaigners like Jordan and Cottrell charging in, things won’t really sway completely.
This was a classic example of the fact that why Rahul is a top-notch skipper. Though it is too early to prophesize this massive of a statement, yet we have seen Kohli suffering in pressure-cooker situations. He lacks ingenuity and relies heavily on his best choices. In case if they slip, things have previously turned ugly.
Maybe and just maybe, this IPL may prove the fact that KL Rahul is a better skipper than Virat Kohli in the shorter format of the game.
