Now Reading: Wasim Jaffer: KL Rahul better off without captaincy burden
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Wasim Jaffer: KL Rahul better off without captaincy burden
Former India opener Wasim Jaffer says KL Rahul plays best when freed from captaincy. On Doordarshan's The Great Indian Cricket Show, Jaffer argued that the star batsman's personality buckles under the added…
The Story in Brief
Former India opener Wasim Jaffer says KL Rahul plays best when freed from captaincy. On Doordarshan's The Great Indian Cricket Show, Jaffer argued that the star batsman's personality buckles under the added pressure of leadership and that he will always deliver 500-600 runs a season if left to focus on his batting alone. Rahul, one of India's senior players across formats, is not in contention for the captain's role in any format currently.
With India set to face Sri Lanka in a two-match Test series starting in Galle, Rahul is expected to anchor the batting lineup purely as a senior batter. In a warm-up match against a Sri Lanka Cricket XI, Rahul opened and scored 40 off 67 balls. Shubman Gill captains the side, while Devdutt Padikkal boosted his case for the No. 3 spot with a 142-run knock.
The Indian Opinion
The chatter around KL Rahul and captaincy fingers him as someone who crumbles under pressure. This ignores his record as a batsman: 600 runs a season across formats while leading Punjab Kings. The lazy narrative pits leadership against performance, as if one must cancel the other. Better to watch how many runs he scores in the Sri Lanka Tests without the armband, that number will settle it.
Sources (2): sports.ndtv.com, rediff.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
