Ever since his emergence in the IPL, wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul has been one of India's biggest stars. Although his career has been affected by injury at times, his record at the highest level in undoubtedly an envious one.
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Rahul has represented India in all three formats of the game, and had an excellent World Cup campign in 2023, but came under heavy criticism for his innings in the final which saw India post an under-par score against Australia.
On Thursday, he spoke to fellow India player R Ashwin on the latter's Youtube channel, in a freewheeling chat.
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KL Rahul compares Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as captains
A native of Bengaluru, KL Rahul made his IPL debut for RCB in 2013, representing SRH between two spells at his home team. He has also represented and captained Kings XI Punjab, and is currently the skipper of Lucknow Super Giants.
Rahul's first IPL and India captain was Virat Kohli, under whom he has played much of his cricket. In the last few years, he has also been a mainstay in the side under Rohit Sharma. Speaking with Ashwin, he compared the approaches of the two captains.
At RCB, I really got to know Virat for the first time. It's very different, seeing on TV versus seeing a player up close. He gives you that belief that you can also go in that direction [playing for India and performing at a high level], and I think he did that as a leader as well. He always showed us the way, was very inspiring and also showed each person that there's a lot more to you than you've already shown to the world.
Rohit just brought a sense of calmness in the dressing room, firstly. He's got that. The passion remains the same but there's a lot of calmness. It also helps that everyone's understood their roles and everything has been given very clearly. Virat had already set the benchmark for how we need to be on the field as an Indian team, so he carried on from that.
Rahul will be in action next on Friday, April 19 as Lucknow Super Giants take on Chennai Super Kings at the Ekana Stadium.
| Format | Matches | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | High Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 50 | 2863 | 34.1 | 52.2 | 199 |
| ODI | 75 | 2820 | 50.4 | 87.8 | 112 |
| T20I | 72 | 2265 | 37.8 | 139.1 | 110* |
| IPL | 124 | 4367 | 46.0 | 134.6 | 132* |
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