KL Rahul on IPL captaincy

KL Rahul Opens Up on Captaincy Pressure During His IPL Stint

Pranvit Singh Dang

Published - Aug 04, 2026, 07:54 AM

3 min

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KL Rahul

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is becoming competitive year after year. Over the years, the league has become a fast-paced league, where players need time to adjust to the setup, especially sometimes in the case of captains. KL Rahul, who is regarded as one of the best batsmen in IPL, saw a dip in his performance when he started leading an IPL team.

KL Rahul led two IPL teams, Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants, during his IPL captaincy stint. While leading these teams, he went through a lot of things and has opened up about the pressure as well. Let's have a look at which issues are highlighted by KL Rahul on IPL captaincy.

KL Rahul on Captaincy Pressure During Interview

KL Rahul, a current player of Delhi Capitals, opens up about the captaincy pressure in an interview with Jatin Sapru on the official YouTube Channel of Human of Bombay. KL Rahul captaincy pressure used to be quite evident on his face, and while talking on the topic of mental health, the cricketer talked about his struggles as an IPL captain with the owners who come from a non-sporting background. While discussing, he pointed out that those 2 months felt more mentally exhausting than the whole 10 months of international cricket. Here is what he said,

What I found hardest as an IPL captain was the sheer number of meetings, reviews, and explanations required at the ownership level. It was mentally exhausting. By the end of an IPL season, I felt more mentally and physically drained than after playing 10 months of international cricket. You're constantly being asked why you made certain decisions, why a player was picked, or why the team underperformed. In international cricket, you're answerable to coaches and selectors who understand the game's nuances. No matter what you do or how many boxes you tick, nothing in sport guarantees victory. That's the hardest part to explain to people from a non-sporting background, who often expect every decision to have a guaranteed outcome.

KL Rahul IPL Captaincy Record

If we see at the KL Rahul IPL captaincy record, he led in a total of 64 matches with a 50% of winning rate. He was considered as a decent captain who often gets positive results, where he led LSG to playoffs in back-to-back season in 2022 and 2023. Here are the detailed stats of KL Rahul captaincy: