Former India captain and coach heaped praise on KL Rahul and said this is the right time for him to take up a leadership role in his career. Rahul was announced as the captain of the Kings XI Punjab franchise after the IPL 2020 Auction in Kolkata. Rahul, therefore, is set to lead a team in the Indian Premier League for the first time and Kumble feels it will help him grow as a person and player.
"I felt not just from a Kings XI perspective but from KL Rahul’s individual growth as well, this is the right time for him to take up this leadership position because I feel that this role is going to help him grow as a person, grow in stature, as a leader and it’ll also help him understand his game not just in this format but also help him understand from the other formats as well," Kumble told Cricketnext.
"We took a decision of elevating KL Rahul because I feel that an Indian captain is essential to build a franchise around a player and for me KL Rahul determines that," Kumble added.
The Kings XI Punjab coach also pointed out that Rahul has been with the franchise for a while and he is a well respected player.
"In the last two years that he has been a part of Kings XI, he has been the best performer for Kings XI and he commands the respect from the other players and he is the best player for us in this format."
However, if Rahul will retain his wicketkeeping duties or not is yet to be decided according to Kumble.
"We are still not sure whether he will be donning the gloves or is it going to be Nicolas Pooran we will decide that closer to the IPL. But having said that, the other thing that certainly helps him is a few of his teammates are around him. Whether it is Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, or K Gowtham who he has played most of his cricket at the junior level, also for Karnataka," he said.
