KL Rahul Player Profile, Age, Career, Bowling & Batting Stats

KL Rahul is one of the incredible batsmen from Karnataka who is part of the Indian National Cricket Team. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional wicketkeeper. Notably, he has also led the national team in the past.

KL Rahul was born in Bengaluru City in Karnataka on April 18, 1992. He hailed from a family of academic background. His father, K.N. Lokesh, was the Director of the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK). His mother Rajeshwari used to teach at Mangalore University as a professor.

The right-handed batsman made his international debut for India in a Test match against Australia in December 2014. Since then, KL Rahul has retained his spot in the national team. Although Rahul got out cheaply for 1 and 3 in his first Test, he made a strong statement by hitting a century (110) in his 2nd Test in Sydney.

Initially, KL Rahul was picked as a middle-order batter for India in ODIs. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan held the spots of openers for India across all three formats. However, KL Rahul was later preferred as the opener in Tests and T20Is, as Dhawan lost his place in both formats. Although Dhawan continued to take a permanent spot as an ODI opener, Rahul was preferred as an opener in the Tests and T20Is.

KL Rahul is one such player who has been in and out of the team due to his form. At his peak, he has slammed match-winning knocks for India repeatedly. However, during his downfall, he got out for ducks in multiple games.

KL Rahul grabbed a lot of limelight in the Zimbabwe tour in 2016. He made his ODI debut in the series and shattered a century on his debut. He became the first Indian player; who score a century on his ODI debut. He also won the Player of the Series award.

In 2016, Rahul shattered a T20I century against West Indies. Although India lost the match by just 1 run, Rahul became the fastest batsman to smash a century in all three formats. Reaching the milestone in his 20th innings, he broke former Pakistan player Ahmed Shehzad's record (76 innings).

KL Rahul is one such player who has lost his place in the national side. However, he always made a comeback with his brilliant batting show.

For instance, KL Rahul was suspended by BCCI in 2019 following his controversial episode on TV show Coffee with Karan. He appeared on the show with teammate Hardik Pandya, who made some misogynistic comments during the show. The episode created a lot of controversy and due to fans' outrage, BCCI imposed a one-year ban on both the players.

Similarly, KL Rahul lost his place as vice-captain and opener in Tests in March 2023 after the Australia tour of India 2024. KL Rahul was replaced by Shubman Gill as an opener. Gill also replaced him as an opener in ODIs. However, due to Rishabh Pant's absence, KL Rahul was preferred as a middle-order batsman and wicketkeeper for the side.

KL Rahul became a member of Punjab Kings in the IPL 2018 auction for Rs. 11 crore. Hitting 659 runs in a season, he ended as the third-highest run-getter. In the 2019 season, he slammed his maiden IPL century vs Mumbai Indians.

Later in IPL 2020, KL Rahul won the orange cap by hitting the most 670 runs. He also captained the Punjab Kings in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. However, when Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans were added in the 2022 season to make IPL a 10-team event, KL Rahul parted ways with PBKS to lead Lucknow Super Giants.