IPL 2020: 'KL Rahul will have to take some of the blame for Kings XI Punjab not being able to find their ideal XI' - Aakash Chopra

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has opined that although KL Rahul did a decent job as Kings XI Punjab captain in IPL 2020, he struggled to identify his best XI.

He made this observation while reviewing the Kings XI Punjab's performances in the recently concluded IPL in a video shared on his YouTube channel.

Aakash Chopra started by pointing out that KL Rahul had a mixed season as the skipper of the Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2020, and partially blamed him for the franchise not being able to arrive at their best XI.

"I was 50-50 with KL Rahul's captaincy. Because he will have to take some of the blame for Kings XI Punjab not being able to find their ideal XI."

While acknowledging that the entire team management is involved in team selection, the reputed commentator observed that KL Rahul was also party to those decisions.

"I am sure these are the decisions of the team management and all of that but you also play a part. So that is an issue because it took some time to understand."

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Aakash Chopra on KL Rahul's progress as a captain through the course of IPL 2020

Aakash Chopra believes KL Rahul improved as a captain as the tournament went along [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra opined that KL Rahul managed the Kings XI Punjab bowlers quite well.

"If you talk about the captaincy in terms of bowler management as that is a very important aspect, I was fine. He handled the bowlers well, didn't play them consistently at the start."

The former KKR player pointed out that KL Rahul steadily improved as a captain throughout the course of IPL 2020, as he extracted the best from the likes of Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin and Mohammed Shami.

"But when he started playing them, he used Ravi Bishnoi well, Murugan was used well also and even Shami was used well. In fact, let me just say this that KL Rahul's captaincy kept improving as the tournament progressed."

The 43-year-old observed that it was natural for the first-time IPL captain to take time to get used to the role.

"And that is not surprising because he had not captained in the IPL earlier, this was his first year, so you are a little cautious and conservative in the beginning but after that you find your feet and that's what he did towards the end. So he kept on improving as the team played more matches."

Aakash Chopra signed off by giving a rating of 7.5 out of 10 to KL Rahul as a captain, and expressed hope that he would keep improving with experience.

"So, well done KL Rahul. I would give 7.5 out of 10 for KL Rahul the captain, not too bad, not too great, improvement can be there and it will happen also is what I feel."

KL Rahul could be the next in line after Virat Kohli to be the India captain: Aakash Chopra pic.twitter.com/z0eq6nRC2h

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The Kings XI Punjab did not get off to the best of starts in IPL 2020, as they lost six of their first seven matches. Although they did bounce back under KL Rahul's captaincy to win the next five matches, reversals in their last two league stage encounters ended their run in the tournament before the playoff stage.