"Lot More Scope For Improvement": Ex-India Pacer On KL Rahul's Captaincy

India's upcoming T20I series against South Africa will be a test for "captain" KL Rahul. With the likes of skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli being rested for the five-match series, Rahul will lead Team India while Rishabh Pant will be his deputy. This will be the first time that Rahul will be leading Team India in the shortest format. Having been impressed by Rahul's leadership during IPL, where he guided Lucknow Super Giants to the playoffs, former India pacer Irfan Pathan said that the batter has improved as a captain.

"Definitely, an exam for all the players but most importantly KL Rahul as the leader. I think, so far, whenever you go in the exam, you want to prepare well. He has prepared well - he has taken Lucknow Super Giants to the Playoffs and he did well. According to me, he has become better as a captain. Because, previously, when he captained Punjab, he was focused more on taking care and understanding his leadership, but eventually, now I feel he is doing better as a captain," Irfan said on Star Sports show 'Follow The Blues'.

Irfan, however, added that there's still some room of improvement, as far as Rahul's captaincy is concerned, adding that the player will only get better.

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"There's still a lot more scope for improvement and I feel as time passes, he will get better and better. He is calm and a very experienced player. As a captain, I believe he will keep doing better because I have a lot of expectations from him and I'm sure he will come out a good leader," he said.

The first T20I will be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Thursday.