Flamboyant opener KL Rahul admitted that it’s time for India to transform their white-ball cricket. On Sunday, the Men in Blue suffered a 0-3 ODI series defeat to South Africa as it exposed flaws in the visitors’ limited-overs template. Last year, India were eliminated from the group stage of the 2021 T20 World Cup. The Asian giants are going through a transitional period with the new leadership in charge. Rohit Sharma has been named the captain of the white-ball team, while BCCI is yet to make a decision on Test captaincy after Kohli suddenly quit the position after South Africa Test series.
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In the recently concluded ODI series against South Africa, Rahul led India in the absence of Rohit who is recovering from the hamstring injury. The 29-year-old opened up on his experience of leading the team and said it was a learning experience.
“It’s a huge honour and it’s a dream come true to represent my country and lead my country. Yes, the results didn’t go our way but I think there were massive learning. We are at a stage right now where we have World Cups as the focus and we are working towards getting better as a team. I feel like we have played very good cricket over the last four or five years but it’s also time for us to get better and transform our white-ball cricket,” KL Rahul told Sports Today.
Rahul said that he is confident about his leadership abilities despite losing all three ODIs against South Africa.
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“I don’t use that as an excuse for not winning, but I think we are a work in progress as a team. I learned so much while leading. Losses make you so much stronger than starting off with victories. My career has always been that way. I have always got everything slowly. I am confident in my leadership skills and I know that I can bring out the best from my players. I know I can do well for my country and franchise,” Rahul added.
Rahul will now don the captaincy hat in the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League as he has been roped in as the skipper for Lucknow Super Giants. He led Punjab Kings in the past couple of seasons but failed to guide them to play-offs as both parties parted ways this season. Lucknow bought Rahul for INR 17 crore and signs Marcus Stoinis and Ravi Bishnoi as the other draft picks
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