K. L. Rahul

K. L. Rahul
Rahul at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2015
Personal information
Full name Kannanur Lokesh Rahul
Born (1992-04-18) 18 April 1992
Mangalore, Karnataka, India
Nickname KL
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Batting Right-handed
Bowling Right-arm medium
Role Opening batsman; Occasional wicket-keeper
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 284) 26 December 2014 v Australia
Last Test 12 October 2018 v West Indies
ODI debut (cap 213) 11 June 2016 v Zimbabwe
Last ODI 25 September 2018 v Afghanistan
ODI shirt no. 1
T20I debut (cap 63) 18 June 2016 v Zimbabwe
T20I shirt no. 1
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2010–present Karnataka
2013, 2016–2017 Royal Challengers Bangalore
2014–2015 Sunrisers Hyderabad
2018-present Kings XI Punjab
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI T20I FC
Matches 29 13 19 68
Runs scored 1811 317 696 5411
Batting average 38.53 35.22 49.71 48.74
100s/50s 5/11 1/2 2/4 14/27
Top score 199 100* 110* 337
Balls bowled – – – 168
Wickets – – – 0
Bowling average – – – –
5 wickets in innings – – – –
10 wickets in match – – – –
Best bowling – – – -
Catches/stumpings 41/- 6/- 6/- 77/-
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 12 October 2018

Kannanur Lokesh Rahul [1](born 18 April 1992), commonly known as KL Rahul and also as Lokesh Rahul, is an Indian cricketer who plays as a top order right-handed batsman and an occasional wicket-keeper also. He plays for India internationally, Karnataka in domestic circuit and Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League.

After appearing for India at the 2010 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, Rahul made his international debut against Australia in the 2014–15 Test series at Melbourne. In his second Test match at Sydney, he scored 110, his maiden Test century. He became the first Indian to score a century on One Day International debut, scoring 100* against Zimbabwe in 2016 at Harare Sports Club.[2] He is only the third Indian batsman to score a century in all the three formats of International cricket. He is also the second-fastest batsman to score century in Twenty20, and the second-fastest Indian in all the formats, to score a century (100 for 46 balls),[3] scoring 110* for 51 balls against West Indies on 27 August 2016 which is the second to highest score by an Indian in T20 internationals, after Rohit Sharma’s knock of 118.[4][5] Rahul is the only batsman to reach the score of 100 with a boundary on his maiden centuries in all the three formats of international cricket. He holds the record for the fastest 50 in the history of IPL off 14 balls against Delhi Daredevils.[6]

Early life

Rahul was born to a kannadiga family on 18 April 1992 to K. N. Lokesh and Rajeshwari in Mangaluru, where he grew up. His father Lokesh is a Professor (Civil Engineering) and Former Director at the National Institute of Technology Karnataka in Surathkal,Mangaluru, and Rajeshwari is a History Professor at Mangalore University. Lokesh, who was a fan of the cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, wanted to name his son after Gavaskar's, but mistook Rohan Gavaskar's name to be Rahul.

According to Lokesh, Rahul started playing cricket at the age of 11. At age 18 he moved to Bengaluru to study in Jain University[7] and pursue his cricket career.[8][9][10]

Domestic career

Rahul made his debut in the 2012–16 season, playing first-class cricket for Karnataka. That season, he also represented his country at the 2010 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup.Rahul also score 143 runs in this ICC U19 World Cup.[11] He made his debut in the Indian Premier League in 2013, for Royal Challengers Bangalore.[12]

Later on, he was kept out of Karnataka Team for a couple of seasons but soon returned for the 2012-13 season, then next session of 2013-14 he had massive innings and had scored 1033 runs and became 2nd highest scorer of the tournament.[13]

Playing for South Zone in the final of the 2014–15 Duleep Trophy against Central Zone, Rahul scored 185 off 233 balls in the first innings and 130 off 152 in the second. Although his contribution went in vain with South Zone losing the match by nine runs, his efforts earned him the man of the match award and selection to the Indian Test squad for the Australian tour in December 2014.

International career

Rahul made his Test debut in the Boxing Day Test beginning on 26 December 2014 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He replaced Rohit Sharma and was handed over the Test cap by MS Dhoni. He came to bat at number 6 and made 3 runs in the first innings. In the second innings, he played at number 3 and made only 1 run. He retained his place for the fourth Test played at Sydney Cricket Ground. He opened the innings with Murali Vijay and made 110 runs, his maiden international hundred.

Returning home after the Test series, Rahul became the first triple-centurion for Karnataka in first-class cricket, when he scored 337 off 448 balls against Uttar Pradesh. His knock included 4fours and 4 sixes. He also made 188 runs in the final against Tamil Nadu and finished the 2014–15 Ranji Trophy with an average of 93.11 in the nine matches he played.

He was a part of the 15-man squad for the tour of Bangladesh in June 2015 but later withdrew due to dengue fever. He then made a comeback for the first Test of the Sri Lankan tour after Murali Vijay was ruled out due to injury. But he did not show any progress as he got out early in both innings for less than 10 runs. In the second match of the series, Shikhar Dhawan lost his place due to injury and was ruled out of the rest of the tour. Rahul replaced Dhawan and made his second Test century, 108 runs from 190 balls, which included 14 fours and 1 six. India went on to win the match to level the series and Rahul was named as the man of the match. His wicket-keeping skills came in handy when Wriddhiman Saha got injured. Rahul took a catch to dismiss Angelo Mathews in the second innings.[14]

He was named in the 15-man squad to tour Zimbabwe in 2016. He made his One Day International (ODI) debut against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club on 11 June 2016 and scored a century, becoming the first Indian cricketer to do so on debut.[15][16] He made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club on 18 June 2016.[17] He was dismissed for a duck, the first time an India batsman has been out first ball in a T20I match.[18]

He was picked in the Indian squad for the four-test tour against West Indies in 2016. Rahul played in the second Test at Jamaica and scored a strokeful 158, his highest Test score then. In the process, he became the first Indian opener to score a century in his debut Test in the West Indies.[19] In the first match of the T20I series in the United States, he scored a century off 46 balls in a losing cause, the second-fastest ever and fastest by an Indian.[20][21] He also set the world record for being the only player to score hundred in first innings as opener in both Tests and ODIs.[22]

Lokesh Rahul set the record for the fastest batsman to have scored centuries in all three formats in just 20 innings surpassing the record of Ahmed Shehzad who took 76 innings.[23] He is the first player in T20I history to score a century when batting at number 4 position or lower (110*). On 3 July 2018, Rahul smashed his second T20 International ton against England. [24] He is also the first Indian batsman to be dismissed hit-wicket in T20Is.[25]

Indian Premier League

Rahul was a part of the IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore as a wicket-keeper batsman in 2013. In 2014, he was bought by the Sunrisers Hyderabad for ₹1 crore at the auction. In the 2016 season, he returned to the Royal Challengers Bangalore. He finished the season as the 11th highest run-scorer, and RCB's third, with 397 runs from 14 matches. Rahul missed the 2017 season due to a shoulder injury.

In the 2018 IPL Auction, he was bought by Kings XI Punjab for ₹11 crore, the joint-third highest price for that year. In the first match for Kings XI Punjab in the 2018 IPL season, Rahul registered the fastest 50 (off 14 balls) ever in the history of IPL breaking the record which was previously held by Sunil Narine, who reached the milestone in 15 balls.[26][27] In season 11 he had three 90+ scores.

References

  1. ↑ "Lokesh Rahul". CricketArchive. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "India vs Zimbabwe 2016: KL Rahul creates history on ODI debut". ABP Live. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  3. ↑ "Lokesh Rahul joins Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma in elite company". India Today. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  4. ↑ "In Stats: India Lose T20 But Rahul, Binny, MSD Enter Record Books". Quint. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  5. ↑ "RECORD: KL Rahul hits fastest T20I century by an Indian". abplive.in. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  6. ↑ "IPL insanity: 'Test star' blasts fastest 50". NewsComAu. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  7. ↑ http://www.jainuniversity.ac.in/Notable-Alumni-of-Top-University-in-India.php
  8. ↑ "Boxing Day Test: Who is KL Rahul?". www.oneindia.com. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  9. ↑ "Rahul's dad, a Gavaskar fan, happy son is selected for Aus tour as opener". Rediff. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  10. ↑ "Steady climber Lokesh Rahul reaches the top with trip Down Under". The Indian Express. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  11. ↑ "KL Rahul Biography, Achievements, Stats, Career info & Records - Sportskeeda". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  12. ↑ "Cricbuzz profile of Lokesh Rahul"
  13. ↑ "KL Rahul Biography, Achievements, Stats, Career info & Records - Sportskeeda". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  14. ↑ http://www.espncricinfo.com/sri-lanka-v-india-2015/content/story/911249.html
  15. ↑ "India tour of Zimbabwe, 1st ODI: Zimbabwe v India at Harare, Jun 11, 2016". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  16. ↑ "India 173/1 (42.3 ov, KL Rahul 100*, AT Rayudu 62*, H Masakadza 0/19) – Match over | Live Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  17. ↑ "India tour of Zimbabwe, 1st T20I: Zimbabwe v India at Harare, Jun 18, 2016". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  18. ↑ "Chigumbura's blitz, Rahul's golden duck on T20I debut". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  19. ↑ "KL Rahul becomes first Indian opener to score ton on debut in West Indies". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  20. ↑ "Most runs, most sixes, and two seriously quick hundreds". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  21. ↑ "Bravo magic seals one-run win in 489-run T20I". espncricinfo. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  22. ↑ "Rahul becomes first to score hundred in first innings as opener in Tests and ODIs - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2017-03-22.
  23. ↑ "KL Rahul quickest to score tons in all 3 formats". Inshorts - Stay Informed. Retrieved 2017-03-22.
  24. ↑ "Records | Twenty20 Internationals | Batting records | Most runs in an innings (by batting position) | ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2017-03-22.
  25. ↑ "Nidahas Trophy 2018, Sri Lanka vs India, 4th T20I – Statistical Highlights". CricTracker. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  26. ↑ "RCB vs KKR match: After Lokesh Rahul's fastest IPL fifty, Sunil Narine slams 17-ball 50 in IPL 2018, Match 3". Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  27. ↑ "Rahul floors Daredevils with fastest ever IPL fifty". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
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