Having been part of the Kings XI Punjab side for the past couple of seasons will be an advantage for K.L. Rahul when he leads the side in the IPL, feels Anil Kumble.
The Director of Cricket operations at the franchise insisted that it had a balanced squad and Rahul’s knowledge of the players would help the side.
“KL (Rahul) is very relaxed, very mature. I have known him for a long time, he has international experience having played this long. The last couple of seasons he’s been part of the Kings XI side, their main player so he knows the team and the youngsters really well,” Kumble said after a training session.
“We have really high hopes, we have a very good and balanced squad, experienced and youngsters. I am just getting to know them now and seeing some of them play for the first time in the nets.
“Really looking forward to the next couple of weeks to just build up the preparations and be ready for the IPL,” he added.
Kumble admitted that the multiple roles played by Rahul would not be easy and that the support staff would do its best to ease the pressure.
“He (Rahul) is very keen and excited but he has his hands full — keeping wickets, batting and captaining — so, as a support team, we have enough experience to sort of ease things into him and make sure he’s ready with his own preparations for the game,” Kumble said.
Admitting it was a strange but nice feeling to finally be able to train outdoors at the ground, Kumble added that the absence of fans would be felt.
“We will miss seeing fans at the ground but I know you all are supporting and backing KXIP so please keep doing that right through the IPL,” he said.
