Kings XI Punjab captain KL Rahul admitted to feeling nerves prior to IPL 2020 in UAE, adding that spending time out in the middle helped him get his touch back. "As a leader it's important to lead from the front. Had a chat with Maxi (Maxwell) yesterday and said I wasn't feeling completely in control of my batting. Was a little nervous but I knew if I faced a few balls, it would settle down," said Rahul after his unbeaten 69-ball 132 powered Punjab to a 97-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in Dubai on Thursday.
Rahul amassed the highest score by an Indian batsman in the IPL, as Kings XI Punjab finished with an eventually winning total of 206 for 3. RCB bowlers were taken to the cleaners as Punjab plundered 74 in the last four overs, the second-most by any team in a T20 game in the UAE. "It's as complete a team performance as it can get, so yeah, happy.
As it happened|
"Sometimes as a captain you're short on time, but I still try and maintain the same routine. Till the toss I still want to think as a player, not a captain. [The bowling] we had a few different plans going into this game and we knew we had to get wickets up front, that also meant we needed to get a big score," he said.
Lot of heart
Rahul also heaped praise on young leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who finished with figures of three for 32. "[Bishnoi] has a lot of heart. He has a lot of fight in him," said Rahul. "Every time I throw the ball to him, he wants to get in the fight. He was a little nervous bowling to Finch and AB, but showed a lot of heart."
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