IPL 2018 | I thought I'll remain in Bangalore or some other club apart from KXIP, says Rahul

Rahul burst onto the cricket scene as a Test specialist initially as he cemented his place in the Indian Test team before making his way into the limited over teams. His spell with the hard-hitting Royal Challengers Bangalore helped him raise his worth as a T20 cricketer with some good innings under the leadership of Virat Kohli and the rest of the management. Rahul has notched up 471 runs from 10 matches (before the KKR match) already at a strike rate of 156.47. Rahul’s brilliant knock of 95* in the loss against Rajasthan Royals was the batsman’s highest score in the IPL since he started playing in the tournament back in 2013. 

However, despite his success, Rahul recently revealed in an interview to IndiaToday that he did not expect to be picked by Kings XI Punjab ahead of the auctions which were held in January earlier this year.

"Kings XI Punjab was in the last of the list I had in my mind. I thought I'll remain in Bangalore or will go to some other club but never thought of being picked by Punjab. But I am happy. We are a strong team and have a nice bonding," Rahul said.

Rahul missed out on last year’s edition of the tournament due to an unfortunate shoulder injury which forced him to back out at the last moment. That did not stop KXIP to bid a whopping sum of Rs 11 crore at the IPL Player Auction for the services of Indian opener. In the opening match for KXIP, the Mangalore-born batsman smashed the fastest half-century in the IPL history of the IPL off just 14 balls. 

“I am in a good mind space and have a hunger to score runs. KXIP have shown so much of faith in me, so I have to deliver and win games for them. It's in my nature that when I go on the ground, I assess the situation and try to win the game for my team,” Rahul added.

Rahul has previously played with the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in Royal Challengers Bangalore outfit but now lavished praise on his left-handed opening partner Chris Gayle, whom the former believes is still one of the best batsmen in the game.

"He is a complete entertainer. He is a destructive batsman, so you enjoy when you play along with him. With his intimidating stats, he always remains to be one of the best T20 batsmen in the world," he concluded.