Kannaur Lokesh Rahul

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All the latest information about the cricketer Kl Rahul is presented for you: all his wins and losses, training plans, life off the cricket field, relationships between colleagues and information about the tournaments he will be participating in.

South Africa tour of India | Twitter impressed as South Africa level series with four-wicket win in high-scoring contest

Aiden Markram headlined South Africa’s four-wicket win against India in the second ODI in Raipur. The opener scored a stroke-filled century, alongside half-centuries from Dewald Brevis and Matthew Breetzke to render Virat Kohli and Ruturaj Gaikwad’s hundreds, earlier in the game, in vain.

Kl Rahul03:17 PM, 01 December, 2025

Has KL Rahul Become Virat Kohlis Good Luck Charm in Cricket?

Kl Rahul05:48 PM, 29 November, 2025

India vs South Africa, 1st ODI | Match Preview

Kl Rahul05:09 PM, 28 November, 2025

Team India Expected to Receive a Big Boost for SA T20I Series

Kl Rahul05:36 PM, 24 November, 2025

Will Shubman Gill Feature in Indias T20I Squad vs South Africa?

International career

KL Rahul was born on 18 April 1992 in Bangalore, Karnataka. He plays as a right-handed wicket-keeper batter. Rahul is part of the Indian national team, plays for Karnataka in domestic cricket, and is also with Delhi Capitals in the IPL.

He started his international career in December 2014 during the Boxing Day Test match against Australia in Melbourne. His Test debut was not strong, but he improved soon after. In 2016, he played his first One-Day International against Zimbabwe. He scored a century in that match, finishing with 100 not out. He reached a hundred by hitting a six on the final ball. It was the only six in the match and made him the first Indian to score a century on ODI debut. During the same tour, he also played his first T20I match.

2014

• Made Test debut in Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
• Replaced Rohit Sharma and received a Test cap from MS Dhoni.
• Scored 3 and 1 runs in debut match.
• In the next Test at Sydney, he opened the innings for the first time and scored a maiden Test century (110 runs).

2015

• Named in the Indian squad for the Bangladesh tour but withdrew due to dengue.
• Returned for Sri Lanka tour’s first Test after Murali Vijay’s injury.
• Scored second Test century and won Man of the Match.
• Took up wicket-keeping duties after Wriddhiman Saha got injured.

2016

• Selected for the West Indies tour.
• Scored 158 in the second Test, the highest Test score at that time.
• Played in the home series against New Zealand but was replaced by Gautam Gambhir due to injury.
• Injured before England series but returned for fourth Test; scored career-best 199 in final Test.
• Made ODI debut against Zimbabwe; scored unbeaten 100, first Indian to score a century on ODI debut.
• Named Man of the Series in the Zimbabwe ODI series.
• Made T20I debut on the same Zimbabwe tour but got out for a golden duck.
• Played West Indies T20I series, scored 110 off 51 balls, first player to score a T20I century at number four.
• Became the fastest batsman to score centuries in all three formats in just 20 innings.

2017

• Continued international appearances, solidifying place in limited-overs squads.

2018

• Scored second T20I century against England.
• Became the first Indian dismissed hit-wicket in T20Is.

2019

• Suspended briefly by the BCCI with Hardik Pandya due to controversial TV remarks.
• Reinstated and rejoined the India A squad.
• Selected for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
• Started the tournament batting at number 4, later opened with Rohit Sharma after Shikhar Dhawan’s injury.
• Scored 361 runs in the World Cup with two fifties and one century; third-highest run-scorer for India.
• Dropped from the Test squad due to poor form but stayed in limited-overs teams.
• Scored 1,000 T20I runs during the West Indies series.
• Achieved Man of the Match awards in T20Is and ODIs against West Indies and Sri Lanka.

2020

• Scored 80 in ODI against Australia and earned Man of the Match.
• Man of the Series in the T20I series against New Zealand with 224 runs.
• Served as stand-in captain in the final T20I vs New Zealand.
• Scored centuries and fifties in the New Zealand ODI series.
• Named vice-captain for the ODI and T20I series against Australia.
• Performed moderately in the Australia series; India lost the ODI series 2-1 but won the T20I series 2-1.
• Injured during Border-Gavaskar Trophy practice, missed the remainder of the tour and England home Tests.

2021

• Returned for the limited-overs series against England.
• Poor T20I form but strong ODI showing, scoring 62 and 108 in two matches.
• Named in the Test squad for the England tour; opened with Rohit Sharma due to injuries.
• Scored 315 runs in four Tests, including 129 at Lord’s; second highest run-scorer for India on tour.
• Appointed vice-captain of T20I and ODI teams after Virat Kohli stepped down from T20I captaincy.

2021–22

• Highest run-scorer for India in the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup with 194 runs and three fifties.
• Named Test vice-captain and ODI captain for the South Africa tour due to Rohit Sharma’s injury.
• Scored 123 and 23 in the first Test vs South Africa; won Man of the Match.
• Captained India in the second Test; scored a half-century; India lost the match.
• Made ODI captaincy debut; India lost ODI series 3-0.
• Passed 6,000 international runs in February 2022 against the West Indies but suffered a hamstring injury.
• Ruled out of remaining ODIs and T20Is against West Indies.
• Named captain for the South Africa series in India but missed the series due to a groin injury.
• Returned as captain for the Zimbabwe tour in August 2022.
• Acted as a stand-in captain in the Asia Cup 2022 final vs Afghanistan.

2023

• Removed from Test vice-captaincy and faced form issues.
• Returned in the Asia Cup 2023; scored an unbeaten century (111) vs Pakistan.
• Selected for the 2023 Cricket World Cup squad.
• Named captain for the first two ODIs against Australia ahead of the World Cup.
• Scored 97 in World Cup opener against Australia.
• Made the fastest Indian World Cup century vs Netherlands in 62 balls, breaking Rohit Sharma’s record.
• Top-scored with 66 in World Cup final vs Australia; innings criticized for slow pace; India lost final.
• Appointed captain for ODI series vs South Africa after Rohit Sharma’s break; led India to 2-1 series win, second Indian captain to win ODI series in South Africa after Virat Kohli.
• Scored 8th Test century in December against South Africa, but India lost by an innings.
• Scored 86 and 22 in the first Test of the England tour but missed the rest due to injury.
• Left out of the 2024 T20 World Cup squad.

2024

• Made ODI comeback post-injury against Sri Lanka; scored 31 and 0; dropped for final ODI. India lost the series 2-0, its first bilateral loss to Sri Lanka since 1997.
• Selected for 2-match Test series vs Bangladesh; scored a quick 68 off 62 balls to help India win rain-affected second Test.
• Played Test series vs New Zealand; scored 0 and 12 in the first Test; dropped for remaining matches.
• Named in India A and the main squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
• Opened in series, scored two half-centuries; later moved to number three.
• Finished series as the third-highest run-scorer for India with 276 runs at 30.66 average.
• Selected for the home ODI series vs England and the Champions Trophy 2025.

Leagues Participation

KL Rahul has been an important player in the Indian Premier League since his debut. He started his IPL career in 2013 and spent his early years developing his skills with different teams. From 2018 to 2021, Rahul was a key member of the Punjab Kings, where he became one of their leading batsmen. Since 2022, he has been playing for Lucknow Super Giants, continuing to deliver strong performances.

Indian Premier League

KL Rahul started his IPL career with Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2013 and moved to Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2014. He returned to RCB in 2016 and had a strong season but missed 2017 due to a shoulder injury. From 2018 to 2021, Rahul played for Punjab Kings, becoming their captain and one of the top scorers. Since 2022, he captained Lucknow Super Giants but missed part of 2023 due to injury and faced criticism in 2024 before being released ahead of the 2025 auction, when Delhi Capitals bought him.

Year	Team	Notes
2013	Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)	IPL debut season
2014	Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)	Bought for INR 1 crore
2015	Did not play	Not retained by SRH
2016	Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)	Scored 397 runs; 11th highest run-scorer; named in ESPNcricinfo and Cricbuzz IPL XI
2017	Did not play	Missed season due to shoulder injury
2018	Kings XI Punjab (KXIP)	Bought for INR 11 crore; fastest IPL fifty (14 balls); 659 runs at 54.91 average
2019	Kings XI Punjab (KXIP)	Vice-captain; maiden IPL century (100); 593 runs at 53.90 average
2020	Kings XI Punjab (KXIP)	Captain; scored unbeaten 132; won Orange Cap; Dream11 Gamechanger of the Season
2021	Punjab Kings (renamed from KXIP)	Retained as captain; scored 626 runs; team’s highest scorer
2022	Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)	Captain; scored two centuries; 616 runs at 51.33 average; led team to playoffs
2023	Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)	Retained as captain; ruled out mid-season due to injury
2024	Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)	Scored 520 runs; missed playoffs; faced public criticism; team lost heavily to SRH
2025	Released by LSG; bought by Delhi Capitals	Bought by Delhi Capitals for INR 14 crore in the Mega Auction

Domestic career

KL Rahul started playing domestic cricket for Karnataka in the 2010–11 season. Early on, he showed promise by scoring 143 runs at the 2010 ICC Under-19 World Cup. In the 2013–14 season, he scored over 1,000 runs in first-class cricket, ranking second second-highest that year. In the 2014–15 Duleep Trophy final, Rahul played very well for South Zone with big scores in both innings, which helped him earn the player of the match award and a place in India’s Test squad. That same season, he became the first Karnataka player to score a triple century, making 337 runs, and finished the Ranji Trophy with a strong average of 93.11, including an important 188 in the final.

Records and achievements

As of June 2025, KL Rahul has scored 18 international centuries: 9 in Tests, 7 in ODIs, and 2 in T20Is. He is the only Indian to score a century on his ODI debut and the first player to hit a T20I century while batting at number four or lower.

• In 2014, Rahul became the first Karnataka player to score a triple century in the Ranji Trophy, making 337 runs.
• In 2016, he scored a century on his ODI debut against Zimbabwe, the first Indian to do this.
• That year, he also made a T20I century off 46 balls, which was then the joint second-fastest T20I hundred and the fastest by an Indian.
• In 2017, Rahul became the fastest to score centuries in all three international formats, achieving it in just 20 innings.
• He also set the record for the fastest IPL half-century in 14 balls, a record later broken by others.
• In 2018, he won the Cricketer of the Year award from Wisden India Almanack.
• Rahul scored 129 runs at Lord’s in 2021, becoming only the second Indian after Ajinkya Rahane to get on the Lord’s Honours Board.
• He holds the record for the fastest World Cup century by an Indian batsman.
• Rahul is the only Indian to score fifties in seven straight Test innings.
• He was the first Indian to be dismissed hit-wicket in a T20I match.
• He is also the only batsman to reach 100 runs with a six in all three formats.

Personal life

KL Rahul was born on 18 April 1992 in Bangalore, Karnataka, into a Kannada-speaking family. He started playing cricket as a child and moved to Bangalore to study and grow his cricket career. In January 2023, he married actress Athiya Shetty, and in March 2025, they had a daughter named Evaarah.

Family

Rahul’s parents, K. N. Lokesh and Rajeshwari, are both college professors. His father admired cricketer Sunil Gavaskar and wanted to name his son after Gavaskar’s son, but mixed up the names. Rahul grew up in Mangalore and later moved to Bangalore to pursue cricket. He married Athiya Shetty after dating her for over three years, and they have one daughter.

Finance

As of March 2025, Rahul’s net worth is estimated between 99 and 102 crore rupees.

Cars and Home

Rahul lives in Mumbai with his wife and daughter. His collection of cars includes brands like Lamborghini, Audi, Aston Martin, BMW, Range Rover, and Mercedes-Benz.

Scandals

In 2016, Rahul posted a picture holding a beer bottle during the West Indies tour, which some officials thought set a bad example. In 2019, he was suspended along with Hardik Pandya for controversial comments made on a TV show. Rahul has also faced criticism for some posts on social media and remarks that were seen as sexist.

Fans

KL Rahul has a large following with more than 22 million fans on Instagram.