KL Rahul, the skipper of Lucknow Super Giants, holds a special place in his heart for his maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), despite his current leadership role with Lucknow. His IPL journey kickstarted with RCB when he was signed ahead of the 2013 season, a decision initiated by none other than Virat Kohli himself.
Recalling the memorable moment, Rahul revealed that it was Kohli who persuaded him to join RCB after witnessing his outstanding performance in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Kohli’s persuasive tactics left Rahul with no choice but to ink the contract, fulfilling a lifelong dream of playing for RCB.
“Virat was there (ITC Gardenia), coach Ray Jennings and other support staff were also there and Virat only said, ‘Would you want to sign this contract and play for RCB?’ I was like, ‘Are you kidding? It was always my dream.’ And then he said, ‘I’m just kidding. It’s not an option, just sign this contract.’ I signed and Virat said ‘It’s gonna be a crazy ride. You’re going to enjoy a lot in the next couple of months’,” KL Rahul reminisced in a video shared by Ravichandran Ashwin on his YouTube channel.
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Playing for RCB was a transformative experience for Rahul, who highlighted the invaluable lessons and rapid growth he experienced during his tenure with the franchise. Despite predominantly featuring in the middle order, Rahul’s time at RCB accelerated his development, equipping him with invaluable knowledge and expertise that would have otherwise taken years to acquire through traditional cricketing pathways.
While KL Rahul cherished his time at RCB, he expressed a desire to have spent his entire IPL career with the Bengaluru-based franchise. However, after being released following the 2016 season, Rahul embarked on new IPL adventures with Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings before landing the captaincy role at Lucknow Super Giants.
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“I would have also loved to play for Bangalore. I had started there, I would have liked to finish there and that was there in my head. But the beauty of IPL is that you get to go into different teams with different players,” KL Rahul reflected, acknowledging the dynamic nature of IPL team compositions and the opportunities they present.
