KL Rahul is a well-known name in international cricket and the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL). The veteran has displayed his excellence with the bat a lot of times in his vast league career. Starting his journey from Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2013, the talented right-handed batter got only five matches from his franchise. In his first IPL season, he batted in a couple of innings for his team and scored only 20 runs.
After his debut season, he became part of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the 2014 IPL auction. Playing alongside renowned international names such as Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner, and Aaron Finch, he remained lacklustre with his bat for SRH in the 2014 and 2015 seasons, respectively. Scoring only 308 runs in 20 matches at a strike rate of 106.20, he failed to convince SRH to hold him for the 2016 season.
However, his horrendous figures in SRH came out as a blessing in disguise for KL Rahul, as his old franchise RCB signed him for the ninth league instalment. Under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, he exuded confidence with his bat and notched up 397 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 146.49. In the competition, some quality knocks came from his bat that helped RCB to cross the line in important contests. In 2017, he picked up a shoulder injury during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2016-17, and couldn’t represent his IPL team in the 2017 league edition.
In the 2018 IPL auction, Rahul’s name went under the hammer again after getting released by RCB. This time, the 2014 runners-up Punjab Kings (PBKS) snapped him for INR 11 crore to acquire his services as a batter and skipper. Holding the captaincy mantle for the first time in the league, he started well with five victories in seven matches. However, in the next seven games, PBKS struggled to win the majority of games under their new captain and ended up their journey in the seventh spot, with six victories and eight losses.
Talking about Rahul’s batting performance, the Bengaluru-born player delivered his best and made it to the list of top run-getters. With 659 runs in 14 matches at a marvellous strike rate of 158.41, he ended up as the third-leading run-scorer in the competition.
Following his top-notch performance in 2018, PBKS were expecting him to be at his best with his leadership and batting skills in the 2019 instalment. As a skipper, his endeavours failed to change the fate of PBKS as the team’s campaign couldn’t move ahead of the league round for consecutive five seasons.
However, with the bat, the veteran served his team brilliantly and amassed 593 runs in 14 games, with a ton and six half-centuries. In the 24th match of the season, he smashed his maiden IPL ton against a quality Mumbai Indians (MI) bowling line-up.
In 2020, PBKS again banked on Rahul’s leadership qualities with the intention of winning their maiden trophy. The tournament didn’t go well for PBKS as they again ended up at the sixth spot, with six triumphs and eight defeats in 14 matches. However, Rahul ruled the competition with his bat and clinched the Orange Cap scoring 670 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 129.34, with a century and five fifties.
Following his batting exploits from the 2018-2020 seasons, PBKS were expecting him to have a blast with his bat in 2021 too. Delivering according to the expectation, the veteran piled up 626 runs in 13 matches at a decent strike rate of 138.80 and ended up as the third most successful batter in IPL 2021.
After delivering his services to PBKS for four seasons, Rahul bid adieu to the franchise before the 2022 edition. In the 2022 mega-auction, the new franchise Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) paid a hefty amount of INR 17 crore to Rahul and appointed him their captain for the marquee event.
Leading the new franchise with confidence, he took the team to the Playoffs with nine victories and five losses in 14 contests, but in the massive Eliminator match, the team’s journey ended following a 14-run defeat at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Rahul again made it to the list of top scorers of the tournament, becoming the second-highest run-getter in the league with 616 runs in 15 matches with the help of two tons and four half-centuries.
Let's have a look at some impressive records of KL Rahul in the T20 extravaganza
| SR No | Records |
| 1. | Joint-fastest fifty in IPL (14 balls) |
| 2. | Highest individual score by an Indian in IPL (132*) |
| 3. | Highest individual score in IPL (away matches) (132*) |
| 4. | Highest individual score for PBKS in IPL (132*) |
| 5. | Fifth-highest individual score in IPL (132*) |
| 6. | Most runs for PBKS in IPL (2548 runs) |
| 7. | Most 50+ scores for PBKS in IPL (25) |
| 8. | Most 50+ scores in IPL since 2018 (31) |
| 9. | Most sixes for PBKS in IPL (110) |
| 10. | Joint-third most centuries in IPL (4) |
| 11. | Second-most centuries by an Indian in IPL (4) |
| 12. | Most runs in IPL since 2018 (3164 runs) |
| 13. | Second-most fours for PBKS in IPL (221) |
| 14. | Top three most runs for PBKS in an IPL season (670 in 2020-21, 659 in 2018 and 626 in 2021) |
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