IPL 2022: 3 litmus tests KL Rahul must pass as LSG captain

IPL 2022 will see KL Rahul in his third franchise and play third year as captain. He will see him lead Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), a new entrant in the marquee tournament alongside Gujarat Titans. Their hopes rest on one of the most flamboyant batters in modern-day cricket to lead the side to glory.

News of the Karnataka batter's reported move to Lucknow started doing the rounds prior to the IPL 2022 Auction. In the days leading up to the mega event, the franchise announced that Rahul would be their skipper.

They also bagged draft picks Marcus Stoinis and Ravi Bishnoi, with the former Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper. They later added some heavyweights to the IPL team during the auction.

All eyes will be on KL Rahul as he leads his side in their season opener against the Titans on Monday (March 28). Ahead of that clash, we look at the three challenges that await the new skipper.

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#1 KL Rahul will look to better his IPL captaincy record

KL Rahul took over the reins as Punjab skipper in IPL 2020. He has had a stellar run with the bat (670 runs from 13 matches at an average of 55.83 and a strike rate of 129.34). Despite that, the Kings didn't make the IPL playoffs that season.

It was a similar story the next season where he again breezed past 600 runs. But Punjab stuttered, finishing sixth for the second time in as many seasons.

Rahul has a 44% win record as captain. He's led the Kings in 27 games, winning 12 and losing 15.

As Lucknow's skipper, he has a chance to start over. He will hope not just to better the record, but also to possibly lead them to their maiden IPL title.

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#2 Have a third consistent year as a batter

Here's a quick look at KL Rahul's numbers from the last four editions of the IPL:

Season	Matches	Runs	Average	SR
IPL 2018	14	659	54.91	158.41
IPL 2019	14	593	53.90	135.38
IPL 2020	14	670	55.83	129.34
IPL 2021	13	626	62.60	138.80

His rise as a batter has been phenomenal in the shorter format and, safe to say, it began with IPL 2018. As skipper, Rahul has led with the bat for Punjab in both seasons. He will look to do so for the third time in a row, only for a new franchise.

Catch the latest IPL live score here on Sportskeeda!

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#3 Good season will help his India captaincy aspirations

KL Rahul's captaincy stints for India are forgettable ones. India lost the test against South Africa when he stood-in as skipper and later watched as his unit was whitewashed in ODIs against the same side.

If this season turns out to be a good one, it could help him put his hat in the ring to captain India in the future. He faces stiff opposition from the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and stalemate Mayank Agarwal. He will hope to edge off the trio for the captaincy of the national side.