KL Rahul has yet again crossed the 600 run mark in an IPL season. He has done it three times in the last four tournaments and had 593 runs when he failed to do so. Rahul has scored almost 78 % of his runs in the last four seasons ( 2018-2021) His first four seasons in IPL contributed 22% of his IPL career runs. In this piece, we look at how KL Rahul has been one of the best IPL batsmen in the last years and is possibly on the way to become an IPL legend. Rahul is the highest run-scorer in IPL since 2018 with more than 2500 runs.
Batting: Phase wise
Rahul has played the majority of his career as an opener and taking advantage of the powerplay has been of his strengths. In 2018 his strike rate was 157.6 in the powerplay and played freely but this season due to the added responsibility and lack of form of the Punjab middle-order he has to anchor the innings and starts slow and is only striking at 115.1
He has been able to do so with great consistency and then accelerates in the middle overs. IPL 2021 he has the best strike (156.2) from over 7 to 15. He has been starting cautiously and then starts playing his shots. In 2020 he struggled to get going in this phase and had a low strike rate of less than 120. In the death overs, Rahul has been consistent throughout the last 4 years and strikes at around 190
Being an opener, Rahul has been effective against pace bowling with an average of more than 50 with a strike rate of 140+. He has not struggled against spin bowling, but scores at a lesser pace at around 124.71 per 100 balls.
Performance by Opponents
RCB missed a trick by not retaining Rahul in 2018 and he has been able to rub salt into the wounds and has scored more than 500 runs against them with an average of 83.5. Rahul has also scored a century against his former team. An average of 66.10 in 10 innings against one of the best teams Mumbai Indians, Rahul has performed when it matters most. An average of 36.11 and 27.2 is not that bad by any standards but you can say that the player is not at the top of his game against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals respectively.
Rahul Consistency and Inconsistency by Punjab Kings
Punjab Kings have finished 6th for the fourth consecutive year with 12 points each season. It’s their inconsistency that has cost them their qualification in the previous few seasons. Glen Maxwell and Nicholas Poorna are exceptional T-20 players but their inconsistency with the bat along with other issues have been the undoing of Punjab Kings over the last few overs. Rahul has managed to score heavily at the top and that should have been an inspiration for the rest of the team
2018:- Rahul’s first season for Punjab Kings ( then KINGS XI PUNJAB) and he started it with a 14 ball 50 against Delhi. Only twice did he score less than 20 runs in the 14 innings that season, and had six 50+ scores. One of the best innings in that season was played against Mumbai Indians when he scored 94 runs ( more than 51% of the team runs) and Punjab just failed to cross the line by 3 runs. That has been a common story for the team
2019:- With five scores of more than 70 in the 14 innings, the player had started to capitalize more on his starts. A wonderful century against MI who then went on to win the tournament was again not backed by his team as Punjab lost the match by 3 wickets.
2020:- Rahul was now the captain of the team and there was added pressure on the player. With the bat, it was his best season till now scoring 670 runs. The player managed to score in the double digits every single time and had six 50+ scored which included a century against RCB.
2021:- Another season, same consistency from Rahul. Rahul ended the 2021 season with one of the best knocks in the UAE leg when he scored 98 runs in 42 balls where the CSK batsmen were struggling to get one shot away. Three 90+ scores in the season, the player just missed out on adding at least one more century to his IPL stats.
Conclusion
KL Rahul would be definitely retained by Punjab Kings and they will hope to build a solid middle order to give their star player the backing he needs. As far as KL Rahul’s form, the Indian cricket team will be hoping that he continues to score heavily in the upcoming T20 WC. If Punjab decides to start fresh, there can be chances of Rahul going to RCB as they are in need of a captain.