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IPL 2022: 'Either KL Rahul or Jos Buttler will end up winning the Orange Cap,' predicts Ravi Shastri

Former India captain Ravi Shastri reckons the added responsibility of captaincy is bringing the best out of Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul.

Ravi Shastri is back as a commentator in IPL 2022

Mumbai, April 24: Former India captain Ravi Shastri reckons the added responsibility of captaincy is bringing the best out of Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul and predicted that either the star India batter or England's Jos Buttler will end up scoring the most runs in the ongoing IPL 2022.

Rajasthan Royals' star opener Buttler has so far amassed 491 runs, including three centuries, in 7 games. While Rahul has aggregated 265 runs in seven games but the Karnataka batsman, who has been dismissed for a duck twice in the tournament, is more than capable of bridging the gap in the remaining fixtures.

Rahul - who slammed a sensational century a couple of games back against Mumbai Indians - is pacing his innings beautifully and Shastri believes he is one of the top contenders for the Orange Cap as the talented right-handed batsman has all the shots in his book.

IPL 2022 Special Site

Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Shastri said, "He's got a solid all-round game, the technique is good he's got all the shots, great temperament, and good presence of mind. With the responsibility of leading a new franchise is getting the best out of him. You asked me at the start of the season, Orange Cap, I said KL Rahul because the openers have the best chance. So, it will be between him and (Jos) Buttler. If you are an opening batsman who's firing then your franchise is going to do well in the IPL because those are not the players at the back who come and do the damage. If you get an opener who's firing then it's half the job done already.

IPL 2022: Either KL Rahul or Jos Buttler will end up winning the Orange Cap, predicts Ravi Shastri

Former England captain Kevin Pietersen, meanwhile, has hailed Rahul as a dynamic cricketer. Pietersen further stated that Rahul is going to bear the fruits of success in the years to come because he has matured way beyond his age. The legendary English batter claimed it's never easy for any player to consistently do well for every new franchise he plays for but Rahul is doing it year after year.

Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Pietersen said, "He's such a dynamic player and that's going to bear the fruit of his success for many a year. To continue scoring runs for different franchises is a damn hard (thing) to do because there's so much pressure going into these new franchises.

"There's so much pressure on you when you get bought for such big money. But when you have technique as solid as his, you've got a mindset as good as his, and you're calm as much as he's calm. And you can hear that in the way he talks to us. His presence of mind is so calm. He's matured way beyond his age. He'll just be proud of what he does and he'll have to continue to make sure that he focuses on his job because captaincy aside, franchise aside, his team does well when he's scored big runs."

Legendary India batsman Sunil Gavaskar also lauded Rahul for the way he paced his innings against Mumbai Indians and said, "It is fabulous to see the way he's paced his innings (against Mumbai Indians). How he increased his tempo, how he went from one gear to second gear to third gear and towards the end (of the innings) he was into the fifth gear was fabulous," signed off.

Story first published: Sunday, April 24, 2022, 16:45 [IST]
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