KL Rahul will soon go under the hammer. He’ll enter the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction as one of the hottest commodities and is expected to be one of, if not the most expensive pick. What’ll be his price and which franchise he’ll join are the hot topics, but these things will only have relevance depending upon what version of KL Rahul a team wants. Do they want an anchorman or wreaker-in-chief up top?
Maybe the more important question is, What does KL Rahul want? Thought of as an ultra-aggressive batter early in his career, the wicketkeeper batter has turned himself into an anchor. In his first five years in the IPL, he struck at over 145 twice. In the following six, Rahul hasn’t crossed the 140-mark once.
KL Rahul’s freedom calling
He’s recently revealed that his reason for leaving Lucknow Super Giants was because he needed ‘freedom’. Bogged down by the expectations placed upon him, Rahul wanted a change. “I wanted to start fresh; I wanted to explore my options, and I wanted to go and play where I could find some freedom. Team atmosphere would be lighter; sometimes you just need to move away and find something good for yourself,” Rahul told Star Sports yesterday.
RCB beginnings
How’ll he get this freedom he desires? I say by going back to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). For those who remember, it was the start of it all for KL Rahul. His career started at the franchise in 2013, but he didn’t get enough game time to show the world what it was capable of. He then went to Sunrisers Hyderabad, struggled there for two years, and returned to RCB.
T20 star in 2016
In a team full of heavyweight batters like Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, and Shane Watson, Rahul held up his own really well. That 2016 season will always be remembered for Kohli, but he outshone each of these four greats at one point or another. Only three players scored more runs at a faster strike rate than Rahul (397 runs at 44.11 while striking at 146.97) in IPL 2016. It was truly a breakout season. Soon after, he made his limited-overs debut for India.
Where’s ‘old’ KL Rahul gone?
It was the best period of his life, and the homeboy could have been RCB’s next captain in years to come, but that didn’t happen. He missed the 2017 season due to injury and then went to Punjab Kings (PBKS) in 2018. He continued that 2016 form for PBKS in his first year with them, but since then, with each passing year, he’s disappointed more and more.
If someone saw him play from 2019 onwards, you’d think where did the 2016 version of KL Rahul go? He was ahead of the curve when he was with RCB, and now some don’t even rate him to be one of the best twenty T20 batters in India. To get back to his ‘old ways’, KL Rahul might need to join his ‘old franchise’.
KL Rahul IPL record by franchise
| Team | Span | Inns | Runs | Avg | SR | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lucknow Super Giants | 2022-24 | 38 | 1410 | 41.47 | 130.62 | 2 | 10 |
| Punjab Kings | 2018-2021 | 55 | 2548 | 56.62 | 139.76 | 2 | 23 |
| Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 2013 & 2016 | 14 | 417 | 37.90 | 145.29 | 0 | 4 |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | 2014-15 | 16 | 308 | 23.69 | 106.20 | 0 | 0 |
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