IPL 2018: Virender Sehwag Lavishes Praise on KL Rahul After His Match-Winning Knock

The ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is getting better and better for KL Rahul with every passing game. The right-handed batsman started the season with a record-breaking 14-ball fifty and has not looked back since then.

In almost every games, he gave Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) a flying start with his wide array of shots.

Well, on Sunday (May 6), the cricketing fraternity witnessed another facet of Rahul’s batting. Unlike the previous games where he threw away his wicket after getting the start, Rahul stayed till the end to take Kings XI home against Rajasthan Royals.

Chasing a modest target of 153, Kings XI were in a spot of bother after being reduced to 29 for two.  Rahul and Karun Nair then steadied the ship with a 50-plus stand before the latter returned back to the pavilion.

Eight runs later, Axar Patel departed too which forced Rahul to drop anchors. The hard-hitting batsman took 44 balls to complete his fifty.

The turning point of the game came in the 17th over when he hit Jofra Archer for 16 runs before Jaydev Unadkat conceded 15 runs as Kings XI all but sealed the game.

The Punjab-based outfit eventually reached home in the 19th over. Rahul remained unbeaten on 84 off 54 balls.

Earlier in the game, Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s sensational bowling had helped Kings XI restrict the Royals to a modest 152 for nine.

At 84 for two, the Royals were looking on their way to post big. However, once Andrew Tye castled Sanju Samson, it opened the floodgates.

Royals found themselves 100 for four and later 114 for seven. Mujeeb was the destructor-in-chief, dismissing Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer to derail Royals’ innings.

Shreyas Gopal’s 24-run cameo then helped Royals put up a respectable total.

Following the conclusion of the game, Kings XI mentor Virender Sehwag took to Twitter to lavish praise on KL Rahul for finishing the game brilliantly.

“Always rate finishing games as a very high quality in batsman and KL Rahul did it so brilliantly today. Good performance by the boys and really well led by Ashwin #KXIPvRR,” Sehwag tweeted.

Always rate finishing games as a very high quality in batsman and KL Rahul did it so brilliantly today. Good performance by the boys and really well led by Ashwin #KXIPvRR

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) May 6, 2018