"He has done an excellent job," Jonty Rhodes hails KL Rahul's captaincy at Lucknow Super Giants in IPL

Jonty Rhodes is the fielding coach of Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL.

Former South African cricketer and the fielding coach of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) Jonty Rhodes hailed KL Rahul’s leadership for the LSG franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Rhodes’ statement came amid speculations of KL Rahul’s captaincy tenure at the franchise.

KL Rahul has captained the Lucknow-based franchise since its inception in the IPL 2022 edition. Rahul guided the team to the IPL playoffs in 2022 and 2023 editions. The Rahul-led side narrowly missed out on reaching the playoffs in the 2024 season, finishing seventh with 14 points.

The 32-year-old Rahul has captained LSG in 37 matches till now in the IPL. Out of these, the Rahul-led side has won 20 matches and lost 17 games.

Getting into the playoffs every time: Jonty Rhodes

Lucknow’s fielding coach Jonty Rhodes heaped praise on Rahul’s captaincy and playing abilities, mainly highlighting his successful tenure as captain over the last three IPL editions. Rhodes further drew parallels with the successful skippers like Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni.

“I think if you look at a record as a captain of a brand-new franchise, getting into the playoffs every time like he has, it’s been something that goes a long way towards his captaincy, to the way that he leads the team and the sort of set up and the approach that he has,” Rhodes told India Today.

“So you know, to look at Rohit’s record as a captain, Dhoni’s record as a captain, the trophies that those guys have won and the consistency that they’ve done to winning trophies, from LSG’s point of view, it might just be one thing getting into the final, winning the trophy,” Rhodes added.

Rhodes further compared LSG’s initial phase in the IPL with five-time champions Mumbai Indians, who didn’t won any trophies before 2013 IPL edition.

“It then turns out MI didn’t win a trophy for quite a few years at the start. Once they learned how to win trophies, they kept going and kept going. So I think from that point of view, I think he’s done an excellent job at the helm, with a brand new franchise, setting up a new culture, with new owners and, and that I think is an indication of how well he’s captained the team in a set-up where there are players from all over the country in India who are very different and all over the world,” Rhodes added.

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