Star Team India batter KL Rahul has recently revealed that he always wanted to play for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) when the Indian Premier League (IPL) began. He also explained that being from Bangalore himself, RCB as a franchise is very special to him. However, Rahul has represented many teams in the IPL over the years and was part of the RCB franchise in 2013 and 2016. He then played for Punjab Kings (PBKS) from 2018 to 2021 and led LSG in the last two IPL seasons as well.
In a recent interview, Times Now quoted him as telling SG Cricket, “RCB gave me the opportunity to showcase my talent when I was young. I am also from Bangalore, so I always dreamt of playing for RCB when the IPL started. I was lucky that I got to play for them for a few years, so RCB is very close to my heart.”
READ MORE: “I want to play cricket for as long as I can” – Nathan Lyon
KL Rahul played 19 matches for RCB, scoring 417 runs at an average of 37.90 and a strike rate of 145.29 with four fifties as well. In the 2016 IPL season, he scored 397 runs in 14 games at an average of 44.11 and a strike rate of 146.49 with a best of 68* as well. While Rahul has been donning the keeping gloves in limited overs, he will also be the keeper-batter in the Tests against South Africa as well. And, former India batter Gautam Gambhir Rahul to keep wickets in the home series against England as well.
“I hope this is not a one-off situation because that would be unfair. His real challenge will not be wicketkeeping in South Africa, but on rank turners, in that five Test match series against England when Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar will be bowling. No challenge is bigger than that. If you are looking at these two Test matches, then I would rather not play him because I would look at long-term plans,” Gambhir told Star Sports. “India don’t have a long-term plan right now because you only have KS Bharat and Rahul now. But probably it is the right way of going about things in allowing KL Rahul do the job until Rishabh Pant returns.”
The India vs South Africa Test series will begin with the Boxing Day clash at SuperSport Park in Centurion.
