I want to get as many runs as I can in the powerplay, says KL Rahul

Once regarded as a Test-match specialist, Rahul is now excelling across all three formats of the sport of cricket. Karnataka-born Rahul has led from the top this year after his former team, Royal Challengers Bangalore opted to let him go to rival franchise Kings XI Punjab.

Punjab bid a whopping sum of Rs. 11 crore to price the classy batsman away from the Bangalore-based franchise. What seemed to be high a risk move for Preity Zinta & Co. has turned out to be an obvious choice at this point in the league. Rahul is adamant to make the most of the opportunities at hand and has set himself a task of scoring as much as possible in the powerplay period of the game.

"I want to get as many runs as I can in the powerplay. (However,) I think I haven't converted those starts into big runs for the team; as an opening batsman that's what is crucial. If you get off to a good start, even if you get the run-rate down a bit in the middle overs, if you are set till the end you can do the most damage," Rahul told www.IPLT20.com.

In the match against Rajasthan Royals, Rahul scored 18 off 15 balls and then scored 48 off 43 before he shifted gears effortlessly to lead Punjab to a win after two straight losses. Rahul also revealed that he would like to play as deep into the innings as possible.

"Those were the things I was thinking about sitting back at home. I wanted to come here with a fresher approach and try to win as many games as I can. (I wanted to) try to bat deep in the innings and that was the plan and I am very happy that it paid off today," Rahul added.

Last night’s win took Punjab to third on the table after six wins from nine matches and firmly placed themselves in pole position for one of the four playoff spots.