Born to a professor and the former director at the National Institute of Technology, Rahul developed a keen interest in cricket from an early age. His parents spotted his desire and arranged for formal training to help him achieve his potential. At 18, he moved to Bangalore to pursue his cricket career.
Rahul’s Start as a Cricketer
Rahul started playing first-class cricket for Karnataka in the 2010-11 season. The same year he represented India in the ICC Under 19 World cup. He started his IPL career in 2013 with Royal Challengers Bangalore. His domestic performance got him a call up for the national Test team in 2014 and two years later, in the ODI team.
Records and Recognition
KL Rahul became the first batsman from Karnataka to score a triple century in the Ranji Trophy. He also became the first Indian batsman to score a century on ODI debut in 2016. The same year he scored the fastest century in T20 by an Indian. He scored the century off 46 balls in what was a losing cause. He is also the only batsman to score a hundred in the first innings as an opener in both ODIs and Tests.
In 2017, Rahul became the fastest batsman to have scored centuries in all the three formats in international cricket. He achieved this feat in just 20 innings. Rahul also holds the record of scoring the fastest ever half-century in IPL. He is also the only batsman to reach 100 with a six in all formats.
Awards and Accolades
KL Rahul was awarded the Cricketer of the Year award in the sixth edition of Wisden India Almanack in 2018.
Career
- Domestic Career
KL Rahul’s debut in first-class cricket came in the 2010-11 season. The same year he was selected to represent India in the U19 World Cup.
He was dropped from the domestic team for the 2012-13 season but made a big comeback in the following season and scored 1,033 first-class runs, the second-highest of that season. In the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy, he played nine matches and scored with an average of more than 93. He also became Karnataka’s first triple-centurion as he scored 337 against Uttar Pradesh.
- IPL Career
The first IPL team Rahul played for was Royal Challengers Bangalore. For the 2014 IPL, he was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad but returned to Royal Challengers Bangalore two years later. Having missed the 2017 season of the IPL due to a shoulder injury, Rahul came back in the 2018 season as part of Kings Xi Punjab. The team bought Rahul for IPL auction price of Rs 11 crore.
In the first match for his new team, Rahul scored the fastest fifty in IPL history. He took just 14 deliveries to reach the milestone. He made his maiden IPL century in 2019 against Mumbai Indians.
International Career
- ODI Career
KL Rahul made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe in 2016 and scored a century on debut, becoming the first Indian batsman to do so. In January 2019, he was suspended by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for his comments made in a talk show. The suspension was lifted off after two weeks and Rahul joined the squad for India A matches. Rahul was named in India’s squad for the 2019 ICC World Cup. He scored his second ODI century and his first in the World Cup against Sri Lanka.
- Test Career
Following his good performance in the domestic circuit, he was selected to the Indian squad for the tour to Australia in 2014.
He made his Test debut in the 2014 Boxing Day Test match. He wasn’t able to cross single digit mark in both the innings but in the next match in Sydney, he scored his first international century. He played his next Test series against Sri Lanka cricket team in 2015 and scored a century in the first match of the series. In the West Indies tour of 2016, he became the first Indian opener to score a century in his debut in the West Indies.
- T20I Career
He made his T20I debut in the tour of Zimbabwe in 2016. The same year, he scored 110 not out off 46 balls in a T20I match against West Indies. This was the second-fastest century ever and fastest by an Indian. This century of his was also the first by a batsman at number 4 position or lower.
Family
Rahul’s father, K.N Lokesh is a professor and former director at the National Institute of Technology, Karnataka and his mother, Rajeshwari, is a History professor at Mangalore University. Rahul has a younger sister named Bhavna.
Published by: Akshita Katoch
Edited by: Khushi Thakur
