Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) former skipper Virat Kohli walked down the memory lane and recalled one of the finest transformational tales of Indian Premier League (IPL) he came across so far. Virat showered praise on KL Rahul, who worked relentlessly to turn into a 'beast' in mere six months to display a top-notch show back in 2016 playing for RCB.
The 29-year-old had joined the Bangalore-based franchise in 2013 after being signed by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for the two subsequent season. Later, he put up a sensational performance while returning to RCB in 2016 season, where he ended up being side's third highest run-scorer with 397 runs in 14 matches. The former India captain picked Rahul and Yuzvendra Chahal as the two best transformation story he has come across in the IPL so far.
“The only two people who come to mind for me are KL (Rahul) and Yuzi (Yuzvendra Chahal). KL Rahul was at RCB in 2013 along with Karun and Mayank. KL Rahul was never a guy who was looked at as a T20 specialist. He was part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2015 and Avinash Vaidya was our manager before. He approached me because he was in touch with KL Rahul, and he was not getting any game time. And I had seen him play for India,” said Kohli on ‘The RCB Podcast’.
“I hadn’t seen much of KL since he left RCB, and I had heard he is doing well in first-class cricket. He was very young when he was at RCB, and I was already playing for India and we were regularly playing for RCB. So, we never really connected in a very detailed manner," Virat added.
Virat further said that Rahul first grabbed his eyeballs in 2014, during India's tour of Australia and he was surprised with the later's confidence.
“We wouldn’t spend so much time with each other. I had seen him play in Australia in 2014 when he made his Test debut and I felt like, ‘Wow! He’s seriously worked some wonder on his game. He’s come back as an amazing player, and he started off so strongly in Australia.’ I was very impressed with his body language, his confidence, his demeanor," he said.
“He was playing for the Sunrisers and wasn’t getting many opportunities and the opportunities that he got, I felt like he was playing under pressure, you could see he was trying to prove a point, trying to prove himself in the IPL. When the opportunity came through, I thought, this guy has got unbelievable talent and maybe playing for Bangalore and RCB would ease things off for him because there, he’s playing in front of his home crowd and there’s AB, Chris, and myself here and if KL can play a role, maybe he can grow in confidence,” he further added.
Rahul had averaged 44.11 in that season with a strike price of 146.49 with 4 half-century scores. Although, he missed the 2017 season owing to a shoulder damage, earlier than leaving for Punjab Kings in 2018.
“He doesn’t need to be the focal point or that youngster who has to prove himself. It’s all about being a part of this great team and showing what he can do. And the way he batted that season, for me, that was a great transformation of seeing a player who was just there and there about to becoming suddenly this beast in six months’ time. From there on he’s carried through,” Kohli said.
Rahul will play the 2022 season of IPL as the captain of Lucknow Super Giants while the franchise retained him for a whopping Rs 17 crore.
