Wasim Jaffer recently described Rahul’s temperament while he was the head coach of the Punjab Kings between 2019 and 2021. Rahul, according to Jaffer, is a naturally quiet and reserved individual who hangs out with a small group of pals.
From 2018 to 2021, KL Rahul captained the Punjab Kings for two seasons, leading the team through a challenging period marked by close losses and missed playoff opportunities.
Despite competitive efforts, the team did not make the playoffs during his tenure, finishing sixth in both seasons. During this time, Rahul rose to prominence, particularly in 2020, when he won the Orange Cap with 670 runs at an average of 55.83 and a strike rate of 129.34, including five fifties and one century.
According to Wasim Jaffer, KL Rahul rarely lost his cool or shown symptoms of rage, whether on or off the pitch.
“KL Rahul is naturally calm, a little quiet, and keeps to himself. He rarely goes out, preferring to interact with his limited circle of pals. It is extremely rare to see him lose his cool or become openly furious on or off the pitch’, Jaffer stated on The Great Indian Cricket Show.
“But when I was the batting coach at Punjab, each game felt like a heartache. We were losing matches from winning situations, and practically every game was dragging on until the last over.
After one of those close losses, a game we easily could have won, I saw him become genuinely angry for the first time. He didn’t say anything out of line, but you could see he was really frustrated with how poorly we had performed. “That was the only time I saw KL Rahul get angry,” he said.
PBKS captaincy was characterised by close losses.
The Punjab Kings’ unhappiness stemmed from a pattern of close losses that cost them playoff spots. In 2020, the squad lost to the Delhi Capitals in a Super Over and fell short of reaching 165 against the Kolkata Knight Riders by two runs.
Punjab finished the season with six wins, eight losses, and 12 points, preventing them from reaching the playoffs. The squad concluded with 12 points and missed the playoffs in 2021 following another tight loss, this time by two runs to Rajasthan Royals and six runs to Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Rahul’s Individual Talent and Career After PBKS
Despite the team’s overall struggles, KL Rahul’s individual performances remained strong during his captaincy. In 2021, he remained a consistent run scorer for the squad, totalling 626 runs in 13 innings and six fifties.
Rahul became the Punjab Kings’ leading run scorer in IPL history, scoring 2,548 runs in 55 games at an average of 56.62 and a strike rate of over 140, including two hundreds and 23 fifties.
KL Rahul joined the Lucknow Super Giants from 2022 to 2024, after leaving the Punjab Kings, where he scored 1,410 runs in 38 innings and led the team to the playoffs in both seasons.
Since joining the Delhi Capitals in 2025, he has continued to play at a high level, scoring 1,132 runs at an average of 49.21 with a strike rate of more than 160, including eight fifties and two hundreds.
Rahul scored 593 runs at an average of 45.61 and a strike rate of 174.41 in 14 innings during the 2026 season, including an undefeated 152, the first Indian score of 150 or more in IPL history.
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