IPL 2020: 'KL Rahul's form has not been impacted by captaincy' - Ajit Agarkar

Former Indian seamer Ajit Agarkar has opined that the biggest positive for KL Rahul in IPL 2020 has been that his batting has not been affected by the pressures of captaincy.

In a recent episode of the Star Sports show Cricket Connected, Agarkar and Ashish Nehra shared their views on KL Rahul being appointed as the vice-captain of the Indian limited-overs team for the tour to Australia.

On being asked if he saw KL Rahul captaining India in the future, Ajit Agarkar said that the national selectors' decision to appoint him as the vice-captain for the tour to Australia does give that indication. He added that the Kings XI Punjab skipper's game not getting adversely affected by the pressures of captaincy is also a shot in his arm.

"The way the selection has happened it shows that the selectors are thinking about him like that. The biggest thing has been that his form has not been impacted by captaincy."

He further stated that a high-pressure tournament like the IPL can take a toll on any player who is captaining for the first time but KL Rahul did not let it impact his game.

"It is a very high pressure tournament, when you are a young captain leading for the first time and don't have that much experience, then your form can suffer and your game can go down, but that has not happened with him."

Agarkar observed that KL Rahul continued to be prolific and batted in an aggressive fashion.

"He has made the same runs and batted in a similar fashion. So that is a big positive for any player, which means he is handling pressure very well."

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Ashish Nehra's take on KL Rahul as a captain and batsman

KL Rahul led the Kings XI Punjab's revival in IPL 2020 [P/C: iplt20.com]

Ashish Nehra was asked how much KL Rahul had impressed him as a captain as Kings XI Punjab had bounced back after losing six out of their first seven matches. He replied that it was too early to judge the Bangalorean's captaincy skills as this is only his first tournament as a skipper.

"It is not easy for anyone as a captain because this is his first year as a captain and straightaway in a high pressure tournament like the IPL. So it is very difficult to judge anyone as a captain in one tournament."

The former left-arm pacer pointed out that KL Rahul would have to learn from his mistakes and become a better captain.

"You will take good decisions, make mistakes as well and you will learn from that only. So the expectation is that the earlier he learns, the better."

Nehra was also of the opinion that KL Rahul's batting had prospered as a captain, adding that he had even altered his game as per the requirements of the team.

"But as a captain he has batted amazingly well. He has altered his batting as per the demands of the situation, with the strike rate less at times and higher on other occasions. He has looked to play the long innings, so it was good to see all that and we will hope that going forward he will become an even better captain."

@klrahul11 You earned lot of fans this season. Be it your batting, composure, wicket keeping, captaincy etc....KXIP might not have qualified but you and the team gave a lot to cheer. KL Rahul fan✌

— Pulkit Agrawal (@Pulkitagraw) November 1, 2020

Although Kings XI Punjab have been knocked out of IPL 2020, KL Rahul is perched at the top of the IPL 2020 Orange Cap list. The Karnataka opener has scored 670 runs at an excellent average of 55.83 along with an acceptable strike rate of 129.34.

KL Rahul looks like the clear winner in this race for the Orange Cap 🔥How good has he been this season 🤩 pic.twitter.com/xCGKz5sTKR

— Sportskeeda (@Sportskeeda) November 1, 2020