Delhi: There are not a few days, but a few months left for the next season of IPL to start but the atmosphere has become heated regarding IPL. It is not just retention, trading or action on auction that is responsible for this, raising of different issues is also a big reason. One such issue was raised by KL Rahul, who was the captain in IPL and said that captaining the IPL team is more difficult, complicated and stressful than the captaincy of Team India. Reason? According to him, the interference in the captain’s work by ‘non-technical’ people associated with the team is most responsible for this.

Rahul’s experience as captain

As far as IPL is concerned, KL Rahul is an experienced captain in it and in the 64 matches played as captain so far, the record is 50 percent i.e. 32 wins and 32 losses. One of the few captains in the IPL whose record as a pure batsman for that team is no better than his record as a captain-batsman. This means that despite the pressure of captaincy, he did not let it affect his batting. If the average for Punjab Kings (including the record for Kings XI Punjab before that) as a batsman is 43.14, then as a captain-batsman it is 58.91. Well, he played for LSG as captain and his batting average is 47.27.

Now, what did he mean by the interference of these ‘non-technical’ people? It is clear that he is talking about ‘people coming from non-sporting background’ and the problem is that such well-connected people associated with the team cross their limits and even argue with the captain on cricket, try to ‘teach’ him and thus create trouble.

Currently, he is playing for Delhi Capitals and as a captain, he is so fed up with the pressure that when Delhi Capitals made him play the role of a pure batsman, it was like a relief for him. IPL career record so far: 5222 runs in 145 matches at an average of 46.21. To take advantage of his experience as captain, the Capitals made him a part of the leadership group, but not the captain, and he is happy with it.

Story of Lucknow controversy and interference

It is not difficult to understand where he is pointing and the stories of the team owners of Lucknow Super Giants and before that Punjab Kings openly arguing with him about the match have been much talked about. Especially the experience of Lucknow team was very bad and due to this, KL Rahul gave a hint about the entire ecosystem of IPL. The captain is constantly questioned on his decisions. This does not happen in international cricket and even if questions arise, at least there are coaches and selectors who themselves understand the nuances of the game.

After a big defeat in the IPL, Lucknow team owner industrial baron Sanjiv Goenka had a heated argument with him on the ground itself. During this period, KL Rahul neither lost his composure nor crossed the limits of decency, but as soon as he got a chance, he did not waste any time in saying bye-bye to that team. KL Rahul said, ‘The most difficult thing I found as a captain in IPL was a lot of meetings, a lot of reviews of work and understanding and convincing the team owners. Only then I realized that 2 months, 10 months of IPL are more mentally and physically tiring than playing international cricket.

Rahul talked about non-technical interference

His thinking has generally received support. Even some people associated with the team management supported him. A media director of Kolkata Knight Riders in the first 6 seasons of IPL said on this that the owner Shahrukh Khan also talks a lot with the players, whether it is to celebrate success or victory or even after defeat, but he never interferes in the matters of cricket and leaves this work to the technical people.

Rahul further said, ‘A lot of questions are constantly asked to the coach and captain. After one point it seems that you are also being asked why you made such a change in fielding at that time, questions on choosing the team, why if the other team scored 200 runs and we could not even score 120 then why and similarly the reason for their bowlers getting more spin?

‘Such questions are never asked in international cricket because the coaches know what is happening? Only the coaches and selectors ask questions to the captain and since they have all played cricket and understand the nuances of the game, they understand the point of view, even if they do not agree with it. It is difficult to explain this to people who come from non-sporting background,’ KL Rahul said boldly.