"Losses make you so much stronger than starting off with victories. My career has always been that way. I have always got everything slowly."
KL Rahul, the stand-in captain of India for the recently conducted ODIs against South Africa, had a terrible stint in the given opportunities, which ended with a 0-3 whitewash for the visitors. India lost the first match by 31 runs, the second match by 7 wickets while the third and final match by a slender margin of 4 runs.
Rahul, meanwhile, feels the Indian team’s white-ball cricket needs urgent transformation. For the unversed, India lost their last three overseas ODI series.
Last three overseas series results for India’s ODI team
Lost 0-3 in New Zealand in 2019-20
Lost 1-2 in Australia in 2020-21
Lost 0-3 in South Africa in 2021-22
Rahul said while speaking to India Today that leading India was like a dream come true for him, even though results didn’t go in the team's favour. He further added that they, as a team, learned a lot from the series defeat and they will only get better from here.
"It's a huge honour and it's a dream come true to represent my country and lead my country. Yes, the results didn't go our way but I think there was massive learning,” KL Rahul said.
“We are at a stage right now where we have World Cups as the focus and we are working towards getting better as a team. I feel like we have played very good cricket over the last four or five years but it's also time for us to get better and transform our white-ball cricket," he added.
I am confident in my leadership skills - KL Rahul
KL Rahul has faced a lot of criticism for his captaincy in South Africa with several cricket experts suggesting that he may have perhaps blown his chance of being a long-term captaincy option across formats. However, Rahul stated that he has full confidence in his leadership skills.
"I don't use that as an excuse for not winning, but I think we are a work in progress as a team. I learned so much while leading. Losses make you so much stronger than starting off with victories. My career has always been that way. I have always got everything slowly. I am confident in my leadership skills and I know that I can bring out the best from my players. I know I can do well for my country and franchise," Rahul said.
The Karnataka batter and India’s vice-captain has been announced as the captain of the new Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Lucknow Super Giants. He was named captain of the team by Sanjeev Goenka, chairperson of the RPSG group, which owns the new franchise. The other two draft picks for Lucknow are Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and young spinner Ravi Bishnoi.
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