IPL 2018: KL Rahul ecstatic to play under Ravi Ashwin at KXIP

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was named the skipper of Kings XI Punjab for IPL 2018 on Monday. The announcement was made public by franchise mentor Virender Sehwag during an interactive live session on Facebook. The management had initially considered Yuvraj Singh’s name but finalised on Ashwin.

The Preity Zinta co-owned team has failed to get their hands on the trophy since the inception of the league.  Thus, KXIP, who were in dire need of captaincy material named Ashwin, as they aim to break their trophy drought under a new tutelage.

Shortly after the news of the offie being appointed as the KXIP captain broke within the cricketing fraternity, top-order batsman KL Rahul welcomed the move. Earlier, KL Rahul went under the hammer as one of the most expensive buys in the IPL Auction with a price tag of INR 11 crores. He was previously an integral part of Royal Challengers Bangalore campaign under the captaincy of Virat Kohli.

However, excited with Ravichandran Ashwin at the helm, Rahul looked upbeat to play under a different skipper as he took to Twitter and wrote, “Looking forward to @ashwinravi99 leading the way for @lionsdenkxip in the @IPL this year. Going to be great fun.#KingOfNorth #LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi,

You can see the Tweet below

Looking forward to @ashwinravi99 leading the way for @lionsdenkxip in the @IPL this year. Going to be great fun.????‍♀️#KingOfNorth #LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi https://t.co/ZkurDRPN8P

— K L Rahul (@klrahul11) February 26, 2018

Ashwin last featured for CSK in 2015

The 31-year-old was purchased for Rs. 7.6 crore by the Punjab franchise during the player auction held in January. Ever since his foray in the league, Ashwin donned the yellow outfit of Chennai Super Kings but won’t be wearing the same in the IPL 2018 as the franchise parted ways with the offie. He was with the southpaws till 2015, before the franchise was served with a 2-year ban.

In the two years that Chennai was not part of the IPL, owing to their suspension after the betting scandal, Ashwin plied his trade for the Rising Pune Supergiant, one of the two interim franchises during the IPL 2016 and 2017.

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