India opening batter KL Rahul has been receiving a lot of flak from the fans and former cricketers for his back-to-back failed performances. The 30-year-old cricketer disappointed everyone with his flop shows during the first two Tests against Australia, which even cost him his position of the vice-captain for the remaining two Tests. As the series against Australia is going to end on March 22, Rahul will be gearing up for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League, where he will be leading Lucknow Super Giants.
The Lucknow-based franchise unveiled their new jersey for the upcoming season on Tuesday, where team's mentor and former India batter Gautam Gambhir lavished praise on Rahul and called him a captain with a "balanced head".
"It starts with the captain. The captain is the flag bearer of the team. It is the captain's team. All of us in the dressing room are there to support him. No support staff is under as much pressure as the captain. It is the body language of the captain that will decide how we perform," said Gambhir during the jersey launch.
"We are very fortunate to have someone like KL Rahul, who has a very stable and balanced head. I wish I had it, I did not have that. I was very extreme, but it did work for me. For a franchise like Lucknow, it is important to have someone like KL at the helm. Going forward, this is going to be a massive positive for us," he added.
As far as IPL goes, Rahul has a formidable record with the bat. In 109 matches in the T20 league, the opening batter has scored 3889 runs at an average of 48.01 and a strike-rate of 136.22.
Talking about IPL, the 16th edition of the cash-rich league will kick-start from March 31 with the first match between the defending champions Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad.
Lucknow Super Giants will be squaring off against Delhi Capitals in their first match on April 1 at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.