Mandeep Singh Backs KL Rahul To Be A Great Captain In IPL 2020

Indian domestic star Mandeep Singh will ply his trade for the Kings XI Punjab in the upcoming IPL edition. Mandeep Singh, who has played for the Mohali-based franchise between 2011-2014 under different captains was back to the same team in 2018 and 2019, featuring under Ravichandran Ashwin. He will have yet another new captain in the forthcoming edition and the batsman remains confident he would make a wonderful one.

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After two consecutive woeful seasons, the management decided to give the leadership duties to KL Rahul. Not only KL Rahul could keep wickets, but he has also been their best batsmen in the last couple of years. The Karnataka-born batsman averaged more than 50 in the previous two years with excellent strike rates too. Ahead of the upcoming season, KXIP also decided to overhaul the coaching staff to turn their fortunes around.

KL Rahul was also in a scintillating form before the lockdown disrupted the cricketing activities in India and for the Indian team. The 28-year old began keeping wickets against Australia earlier this year while also making runs with the bat. He toured New Zealand along with the men in blue where he scored more than 200 runs in five T20Is to earn the man of the match award. The right-handed batsman was also amongst the runs in the subsequent three ODIs.

“The way he has matured over the years is just unfathomable” : KL Rahul

Mandeep Singh revealed that he has known KL Rahul since his younger days and being in NCA, they would compete with each other. Mandeep Singh stated that contrary to his aggressive nature, the Indian limited-overs gloveman has been calm and composed, maturing tremendously well. The 28-year old remains confident that the skipper has communicated very well with the players so far and will handle situations quite well, remaining sure of his abilities as a leader.

“I have known Rahul since my younger days. We were together in the NCA, and would compete with each other. I have been aggressive from the start, but he has always been calm and composed. The way he has matured over the years is just unfathomable. We can’t say much right now, as a captain’s mettle is proved when he encounters tough situations during matches. I feel he will handle those situations very well.

His communication with the players has been truly wonderful thus far, and has been effective assigning roles to players. We had been clearly instructed by Anil sir to take it easy in these initial training sessions, and not go overboard. We aren’t here to impress anybody. All of us are playing after such a long break. I have no doubts that Rahul will make a wonderful captain,” Mandeep told Times Now.

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