We haven’t seen the best of KL Rahul, he could have an IPL season like Kohli had once: Gambhir

Indian Premier League is all set to resume in a few days’ time with UAE in full swing with the preparations for the second leg of the tournament. The cash-rich league is going to be entertaining this leg as there are a lot of newcomers coming in as replacements for pulled-out players.

Speaking about the IPL 2021 points table, Delhi Capitals are comfortably sitting at the top of the table. KL Rahul-led Punjab Kings failed to do well on a consistent basis and they are at the sixth position on the table. With the change in venues, Punjab would look to change its fortunes. Captain KL Rahul was one of the consistent performers for the side in the first phase.

Speaking exclusively on the Star Sports show Game Plan, former Team India batsman Gautam Gambhir thinks the world hasn’t seen the best of KL Rahul yet. The former Indian opener feels KL can get 2-3 centuries in a season and he also felt that Rahul can have a season like Virat Kohli had in IPL 2016 tournament, where the RCB skipper scored 973 runs.

He can get 2-3 hundreds in an IPL season: Gautam Gambhir on KL Rahul

“We haven’t seen the best of KL Rahul. Yes, he has got runs, but we still haven’t seen what he can achieve in his batting. You could have a season like Virat Kohli had once. He’s that kind of a player in white-ball cricket, where he can get 2-3 hundreds in a season and at a very good strike rate as well. And I hope that it happens because it has been a disappointment for Punjab Kings,” Gambhir said.

After all, last time around, they had put a lot of faith in Glenn Maxwell and he didn’t fire; this time around Nicholas Pooran didn’t fire. When you start putting a lot of faith in International players and they don’t perform, it puts a lot of pressure on the captain as well,” Gambhir added.

Punjab Kings looks stronger than the first phase with a few new players joining the squad. South African game change Aiden Markram has replaced Dawid Malan, who pulled out of the tournament due to personal reasons. England’s premier spinner Adil Rashid has come in the place of Jhye Richardson. Nathan Ellis, the Aussie speedster, has replaced Riley Meredith.