Bengaluru-born KL Rahul on Sunday night scored the fastest half-century in the history of the IPL. He took just 14 balls to score those runs and in the process beat the previous IPL record of 15 balls held by Sunil Narine and Yusuf Pathan.
He, along with fellow Karnataka teammate Karun Nair who also scored a less eventful, but just as important fifty of 33 balls guided their team, the Kings XI Punjab, to a resounding six-wicket win against Delhi Daredevils.
Rahul has earned a reputation of being one of India’s top young prospects. The 25-year-old opening batsman has made 23 test appearances to go along with 10 ODI and 15 T20 Internationals.
Since his debut, Rahul has impressed consistently. He scored his maiden test century in just his second test match against a competent Australian bowling line-up.
When eventually handed his ODI debut against Zimbabwe in 2016, Rahul scored a century in his very first limited overs match in international cricket.
Later on in the same year, Rahul became the fastest batsman to score hundreds in all three international formats when he scored 110 runs against the West Indies. He achieved the feat in just 20 innings and thereby surpassed Ahmed Shehzad’s record of 75 innings.
Rahul is also the only batsman to score a T20 International hundred after coming to the crease at number four, or lower.
Due to his orthodox style of play and the fact that he can also strap on the keeping pads when required, he has often drawn comparisons with the illustrious cricketer from his state Rahul Dravid.
Only time will tell if Rahul can match up to the steep expectations brought with such a comparison, but he seems to be on the right track. In due course, if he can tighten up his technique and become more consistent at the international level, he could very well be representing India in all three formats for a long time to come.