IPL 2022: "Seemed To Be Preoccupied", Sunil Gavaskar's Assessment Of KL Rahul's Punjab Kings Captaincy Stint

KL Rahul is all geared up to lead the Lucknow Super Giants for the very first time as the side squares off against the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. Ahead of this game, former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar assessed Rahul's captaincy stint with the Punjab Kings. Gavaskar spoke about how Rahul "seemed preoccupied" while leading the Punjab-based franchise in the cash-rich league.

"When he was the captain of Punjab Kings, he seemed to be preoccupied, maybe he was not getting the 11 that he wanted. The new franchise Lucknow Super Giants is going to be a different challenge for KL and if he can bat the way he did in previous seasons and take the team to the knockouts if not actually the finals, then he would have taken a big step forward as far as his own cricketing career is concerned," Gavaskar said on Star Sports' show 'Gameplan'.

Ahead of the match between Lucknow and Gujarat Titans, Gavaskar also said that Rahul alongside Quinton de Kock will make a devastating opening pair for the Lucknow Super Giants and it will hold them in good stead in the entire competition.

"The best part about Quinton de Kock is the fact that he also has captaincy experience. He has been a captain of South Africa and knows all formats of the game. He knows what team building is all about because we are talking about a different team now. He will be very keen to contribute towards the team building process," said Gavaskar.

"KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock's right-hand and left-hand combination makes a devastating opening pair and they can get the team off to a flying start," he further stated.

The IPL 2022 began on March 26 and previous champions Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians suffered losses in their opening games. Even Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) suffered a defeat in their first match against the Punjab Kings.

Lucknow Super Giants Squad: KL Rahul (c), Ravi Bishnoi, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Jason Holder, Manish Pandey, Quinton de Kock, Krunal Pandya, Andrew Tye, Avesh Khan, Ankit Singh Rajpoot, Krishnappa Gowtham, Dushmanta Chameera, Shahbaz Nadeem, Manan Vohra, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Kyle Mayers, Karan Sharma, Evin Lewis, Mayank Yadav.

Topics mentioned in this article

Punjab Kings Lucknow Super Giants IPL 2022 KL Rahul Sunil Gavaskar Quinton de Kock Cricket