IPL 2022: "Always been an admirer of Gautam Gambhir's aggression" - KL Rahul on Lucknow Super Giants' mentor 

KL Rahul has said that seeing Gautam Gambhir as the team's mentor was one of the reasons why he chose Lucknow Super Giants over the other new franchise ahead of IPL 2022. Rahul said that he has been an admirer of Gambhir for his aggressive captaincy for the Kolkata Knight Riders, adding that he's raring to learn from him.

Rahul interacted in an interview with Boria Majumdar for his YouTube channel Revsportz. There, the franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka also revealed the team's name for the first time. Meanwhile, KL Rahul also admitted that he's 'very excited' about the overall journey, but 'a little nervous' about the upcoming IPL 2022 auction. He said in this regard:

"Always been an admirer of him and how he has captained KKR when he played and his aggression. So there's so much to learn from him as well, so I'm very excited about this journey. The auction's coming up in a few weeks' time, which is making me a little nervous, but that is the exciting part of the IPL, so fingers crossed."

Goenka's RPSG Group acquired the Lucknow Super Giants for over Rs 7,000 crore. The name is similar to the now-defunct Rising Pune Super Giants, which was also owned by Goenka. Apart from Rahul, the new IPL franchise has named Marcus Stoinis and Ravi Bishnoi as their draft picks ahead of the mega auction.

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"Had to be really patient early on" - KL Rahul reflects on India captaincy

In the same interaction, Rahul also reflected on his promotion to India's vice-captaincy in limited-overs formats and the captaincy in red-ball cricket.

KL Rahul said he isn't 'surprised' by the promotion, as he spent most of his early career on the bench waiting for his chances. He now just wants to 'cash in', adding:

"Without being too brash, I am not surprised, and I don't think this has come very fast because I had to be really patient early on. There were years where I had to sit with the one-day, T20 and Test teams, and had to just keep waiting for my opportunities."

"That's the time I worked hard really really hard on my game and getting fitter as a player, and now that the opportunities have come, the time that I've spent outside being frustrated and missing out on those years of playing for the country, I've really wanted to cash in and make it count."

KL Rahul is also wary of taking things for granted. He wants to repose the trust shown in him by the management by working even harder. He concluded by saying:

"I'm really happy with how things have gone, but these are the things that have happened and gone, and we have to look forward and continue putting up the same performances."

"The selectors and BCCI have shown so much faith in me and given the leadership role as well. That's a bit of added responsibility for which I want to work even harder, try and do my best and lead by example."

The IPL 2022 auction is set to take place on February 12 and 13, with the new season likely to commence in the last week of March.