The rise of Rahul – KL Rahul’s incredible form in the last two IPL seasons
Superb timing, a variety of shots in the armoury and the intent to make the most of every ball has contributed to the success of KL Rahul in the shorter format. It took a bit of time for the Karnataka youngster to prove his mettle in white-ball cricket but currently, the 20-over format remains his best at International level. Rahul is as important as Kohli-Rohit in T20Is for India if not better than the duo. Being India’s highest-ranked T20I batsman proves the fact.
Rise in the last two editions!
Given the way Rahul has dominated with the bat in Indian Premier League (IPL), this should have come as a surprise despite his failures in Test cricket. The 28-year-old has easily been the best batsman across the last two editions of the IPL. Since making his debut for Kings XI Punjab, Rahul aggregated 1252 runs from only 28 innings. In this period, Rahul hit 13 fifty-plus scores including an unbeaten century. He managed to cross the 30-run mark in 17 of the 28 innings which translates to the best ratio for any player.
KL Rahul began his career with KXIP by smashing the fastest fifty in the history of IPL. In his maiden season (2018) for the franchise, he amassed 649 runs at an average of 54.91 and a whopping 158.41 strike rate. Only Kane Williamson (735) and Rishabh Pant (684) scored more than Rahul during the 2018 edition. Rahul continued his consistency with the bat in the 2019 edition where he scored his maiden century of the league. However, Kings XI Punjab finished one win short of playoffs 2nd time in a row.
Rahul ended the season with 593 runs from 14 innings and his tally stood only behind David Warner’s 692 runs. However, in 2019, his strike rate dropped down to 135.38 which was almost 23 less than his 2018 strike rate. Playing second fiddle to Chris Gayle and batting through the innings contributed towards the slow down. His slow starts could continue in the coming 2020 season as well unless he gets the assurance from his team of making it big if he departs early.
(Stats as on August 30, 2020)
