Lokesh Rahul appointed KXIP captain for 2020

“We are happy to appoint Rahul as our captain for the upcoming season. He has been through a lot in the last year or so and has now come back strongly,” Wadia told PTI on the day of the IPL auction in Kolkata “He has silenced his critics. You will get to see his ability not just as a batsman but also as a captain. He was our unanimous choice,” he added. KXIP had bought Rahul for a whopping Rs 11 crore ahead of the 2018 season.

Rahul’s ascendancy to captaincy was expected after Ravichandran Ashwin was traded to Delhi Capitals last month. The Karnataka batsman was dropped from the Test team following a disastrous tour of Australia earlier this year. Around the same time, he landed himself in a massive controversy alongside Hardik Pandya for making loose comments on women during a popular TV show. He went back to playing domestic and India A cricket before making a Test comeback.