With his knock of 75 runs off 45 balls against hosts Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur on Friday night, Delhi Capitals and Indian batsman KL Rahul grabbed the purple cap taking his tally to 433 runs in nine matches this IPL. Rahul, who has scored one hundred in this IPL, scored his third fifty of this year’s IPL on Friday night and was instrumental in setting up the Delhi Capitals chase first with his opening wicket partnership of 110 runs with Pathum Nissanka and then steadying the innings during the chase. Former Indian batsman Ambati Rayudu rated Rahul’s knock highly and shared how a batsman like KL Rahul can take on any bowler at any time.
“He (Rahul) has always had the game. He can take on any bowler at any time; it is just his mindset. Today we have seen a very, very good approach to his batting,” Rayudu said on ESPNCricinfo.
In his IPL career since 2018, the first time when he crossed 500 runs in an IPL season, Rahul has scored more than 500 runs seven times. While his tally of 659 runs in the 2018 IPL edition had come at a strike rate of 158.31, the last seven IPL seasons had seen Rahul scoring his runs at a strike rate below 150. His strike rate of 149.72 for his tally of 539 runs last IPL was his best strike rate since 2018. This IPL has seen Rahul scoring a total of 433 runs so far with a strike rate of 185.44. Prior to Friday, Rahul had faced spinner Ravi Bishnoi for 12 balls and had scored just eight runs. On Friday, Rahul scored 26 runs off the nine balls faced by him off Bishnoi. Rayudu lauded Rahul’s ability to counter Bishnoi and the kind of confidence Rahul showed against Bishnoi in his innings. “He went through a couple of shots against Bishnoi because he was sure that Bishnoi had the pace, and he could just stand in the crease and still go through with the shot. That shot was still not on, a slightly good-length or short-of-a-length ball, which he hit straight for six. That shows that the wicket was good, and also KL’s confidence in his batting and a change in the way he generally bats. These are the balls that he generally does not take in and it is a great sign that he is taking on these lengths and deliveries against spin. That is why we are seeing him play at such higher strike-rates in this tournament compared to few other seasons,” Rayudu added.
Post the match, Rahul also spoke about his strike rate being the talking point for the past few years. The strike rate was a big talking point for a few years. That’s something that I’ve really worked on. I’m happy that I’ve worked on that and I’m doing what’s required for the team, number one, and doing what modern T20 cricket requires. And yeah, that’s something that’s pleasing for me.” Rahul said in the post presentation.
