Why K.L. Rahul thinks IPL captaincy is tougher than leading the Indian team

It seems K.L. Rahul, senior India batter and former captain with at least two IPL franchises, has finally blown the lid on the pressures of leading a team in the most valuable T20 franchise league of the world. A recent interview, where he spoke about high stress levels of being answerable to “people who come from non-sporting backgrounds”, is sure to stir up a hornet’s nest.

Now playing as the pivotal batter with Delhi Capitals, KL has had a stellar career in IPL with 5222 runs in 145 matches at an average of 46.21. While he has been retained by the Capitals for the 2026 season and will surely be a part of the leadership group, it’s obvious that the 34-year-old will not be keen to wear the captain’s mantle after an unhappy parting with Lucknow Super Giants last year and with Punjab Kings before that.

Speaking to Jatin Sapru for Humans of Bombay, KL gave a peek inside the IPL ecosystem that captains are constantly being questioned for their decisions — something that does not happen in international cricket, where coaches and selectors understand the nuances of the sport having played it themselves.

What immediately resonates with the IPL watchers is the heated on-field conversation between him, the LSG captain for first three seasons, and industrial baron & owner Sanjiv Goenka last year after a big defeat. While KL’s honeymoon with the new franchise lasted for first two seasons when they made play-offs, things turned bitter in 2024 as their campaign turned sour and the franchise eventually finished seventh. Earlier, KL decided to sever his ties with Punjab Kings and put himself up for auction ahead of 2022 season when he and chief coach Anil Kumble failed to deliver for the red shirts.  

‘’What I found hard as a captain in the IPL was the number of meetings that you needed to do, the number of reviews that you needed to do and explain at the ownership level. I realised that at the end of IPL, I am more mentally and physically drained than playing 10 months of international cricket,’’ KL said.

An introvert by nature, the graceful batter didn’t hold back – making it very clear that he would not be ready to wear the crown of thorns in future. ‘’Coaches, captains are constantly being asked a lot of questions. It almost, after a point feels like, you are being questioned as to why did you make this change? Why did he play in the XI? Why is it that the opposition got 200 and we couldn’t even get 120? Why are their bowlers getting more spin?.

‘’These are questions that we never get asked throughout the year, right? Because the coaches who are there know what’s going on. You are only answerable to the coaches and the selectors, who have all played cricket and understand the nuances of the game. No matter what you do, no matter how many boxes you tick, there’s nothing in sport that guarantees victory. So, that's hard to explain to people who come from a non-sporting background."

The wicketkeeper-batter said while there is no lack of commitment from players in the IPL, the results are always not guaranteed.  ‘’Pressure increases. Expectations increase. I think that is all manageable, because we are used to it. We, as cricketers, can never run away from all that. What makes IPL hard is the number of games we play in a two-month period. There’s always a new team member coming in. There are three-four new members who are coming in after a mini auction. Having to interact with players from different cultures, different parts of the world.’’

The IPL is no stranger to the captain’s role being a musical chair, with a number of precedents of them being changed mid-season to bring a change in luck and fresh wave of ideas. It was Sourav Ganguly, who many years back said at a memorial lecture that he found IPL captaincy tougher than leading the Indian team and now, the same thought resonates with one of the senior pros of Indian cricket.