Exclusive: Captaincy is a thing you can only get better at, says KL Rahul

Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul talks to TOI about leadership, building a team from scratch and the new IPL season aheadFor someone still growing into his captaincy shoes, KL Rahul is impressively clear-headed about his leadership philosophies. As skipper of the newly-named Lucknow Super Giants franchise, Rahul knows his responsibilities as captain will only grow and as he says, a steep learning curve lies ahead.

Read AlsoLucknow IPL team to be called Lucknow Super Giants

The Lucknow franchise of the Indian Premier League will be called Lucknow Super Giants after its owners announced the name chosen by its fans. The name was shared by owner Sanjiv Goenka in a video message on Monday. KL Rahul will lead the Lucknow franchise in the upcoming IPL.

TOI caught up with Rahul to talk about the start of his journey with Lucknow and his approach to captaincy. Excerpts from an exclusive conversation...You have repeatedly talked about growing as a captain, of being on a learning curve with the Indian team. In this context, what sort of opportunity does the stint with Lucknow Super Giants offer you?What I've felt in the last two-three years, since I started captaining, is that captaincy is one thing you can only get better at. You can only learn when you really captain a team. You can be a player, you can be part of a leadership group, and you might be a senior player, and you (might) feel that, yes, I can do that role really well if given the opportunity. But it's very different when you're actually given that role and that opportunity and when you have to make those calls in the middle. Every game is a learning curve, and I don't think it'll ever stop (being that) until I finish my career as player or captain. I'm very