KL Rahul, KXIP, 2019 World Cup, IPL 2019
KL Rahul boasts about his supremacy. Photo Credit: KXIP.

Anil Kumble, Kings XI Punjab coach, has revealed the reason behind KL Rahul not keeping wickets in the past two games of the ongoing IPL.

Kumble, who was miked up for an interview with the host broadcasters, said that KL Rahul felt the need to take a bit of a break from the wicketkeeping duties, paving way for Nicholas Pooran to don the gloves in the last game against CSK and the ongoing fixture against SunRisers Hyderabad.

 

Anil Kumble, KL Rahul
KL Rahul and Ravi Bishnoi celebrate. (Credits: Web)

“KL Rahul felt after first few games that he needed a bit of a break. He felt that Nic Pooran can keep wickets” Anil Kumble said.

During the same interview, Anil Kumble also revealed that Chris Gayle was certain to play tonight’s fixture before food poisoning ruled him out.

After a 10-wicket mauling against CSK, KXIP made three changes to their playing 11 with wicketkeeper Prabhsimran Singh, Arshdeep Singh, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman coming into the side in place of Chris Jordan, Sarfaraz Khan, and Harpreet Brar.

On Prabhsimran Singh’ inclusion, Anil Kumble said-

“We felt Prabhsimran Singh has shown a lot of talent in the past 2 months he has been here. We know that he is an existing talent. We felt that this was the game that we can give him an opportunity. And, Prab is a keeper. So, we felt that if Prab keeps then obviously KL and Nic Pooran can field”

Meanwhile, KXIP’s bowling issues have continued against SRH as David Warner and Jonny Bairstow made a meal for their attack as they stitched a 160-run-stand. Ravi Bishnoi’s double-strike of both openers have aided in KXIP staging some sort of recovery as SRH have lost three wickets for one run.

Also Read- IPL 2020: Anil Kumble Reveals The Reason Behind Chris Gayle Not Playing Against SRH