KL Rahul, captain of Kings XI Punjab, has managed to impress Sunil Gavaskar with his leadership qualities.

Rahul led a terrific turnaround for Kings XI, whose campaign was in doldrums in early half of IPL 2020, and he has also been named the vice-captain for India’s T20I and ODI teams for the upcoming tour of Australia.

“You know, they have just found the winning way! They seemed to have lost that at the start of the tournament,” the former India captain said in Star Sports’ show Cricket Live.

“Remember, every time they were close to winning, and they went into the Super Over in their first-ever game, and then again, after that they were losing in the final overs.

“Then, somewhere down the line, they found that key, that takes them to a win and the last few games, they have played exceptional cricket.”

Kings XI superbly defended 126 for a 12-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday. “Last match, to defend a 126 takes a lot of doing, takes a lot of self-belief and that’s what they showed. They have been brilliantly led by KL Rahul,” Gavaskar said.

“Rahul has grown into the captaincy role.”