IPL 2023: Gambhir backs under-fire Rahul, says Lucknow Super Giants 'fortunate' to have him as captain
IPL 2023 - Gautam Gambhir KL Rahul, says LSG 'fortunate' to have him as captain (Photo | BCCI/IPL).
The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) unveiled their new jersey for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 edition, which kicks off in India on March 31. The KL Rahul-led side bowed out in the IPL 2022 Eliminator and will be eager to go the distance this time around in the forthcoming season. Ahead of the tournament opener, LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir was all praise for Rahul.
Rahul has been under-fire for his poor form of late. In Tests, he has only managed 192 runs in the last 12 innings and was left out of India's playing XI for the Indore Test versus Australia. He lost the ODI vice-captaincy post to Hardik Pandya in January 2023 and got sacked as Rohit's deputy in Tests as well. Amid severe criticism from all corners, Gambhir -- former Indian opener and two-time IPL winning captain (for Kolkata Knight Riders) -- said that Lucknow is 'very fortunate' to have Rahul as their captain.
In addition, Gambhirfurther stated that the right-hander has a stable and balanced head while accepting that he lacked such qualitiesduring his playing days.
At LSG's jersey launch, Gambhir said, "It starts with the captain. The captain is the flag bearer of the team. It is the captain's team. All of us in the dressing room are there to support him. No support staff is under as much pressure as the captain. It is the body language of the captain that will decide how we perform."
"We are very fortunate to have someone like KL Rahul, who has a very stable and balanced head. I wish I had it, I did not have that. I was very extreme, but it did work for me. For a franchise like Lucknow, it is important to have someone like KL at the helm. Going forward, this is going to be a massive positive for us," Gambhir added.
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Rahul is part of India's Test squad versus Australia with the final match starting on March 09 in Ahmedabad. He will also be seen in the three ODIs versus the Men in Yellow before taking charge of the LSG franchise in IPL 2023.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) squad for IPL 2023
KL Rahul, Ayush Badoni, Karan Sharma, Manan Vohra, Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Krishnappa Gowtham, Deepak Hooda, Kyle Mayers, Krunal Pandya, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Mark Wood, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Nicholas Pooran, Jaydev Unadkat, Yash Thakur, Romario Shepherd, Daniel Sams, Amit Mishra, Prerak Mankad, Swapnil Singh, Naveen ul Haq, Yudhvir Charak