IPL 2025: Back to enjoying my cricket, says KL Rahul
What's the story
Delhi Capitals (DC) star batter KL Rahul has done an able job returning from paternity leave in the Indian Premier League 2025 season.
The classy Rahul scored a quickfire 15 in his first match and then hit a match-winning 77 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), off just 51 balls in Match 17 on Saturday.
His resurgence is credited to his rekindled love for cricket and a tactical emphasis on hitting boundaries as a path to victory.
Here's more.
Training
Rahul isn't thinking much and is enjoying his cricket
In a chat with DC team mentor Kevin Pietersen on iplt20.com, Rahul said he is back to enjoying his cricket and is trying to be aggressive.
"So back to enjoying my cricket. I am not thinking too much about the game, not thinking about taking it deep or none of that stuff. Just see [the] ball and try and be aggressive and put the pressure on the bowler and the opposition and just enjoy hitting boundaries."
Fun
Rahul had lost fun of hitting boundaries
Rahul's recent performances are a far cry from his previous IPL seasons, where he failed to keep a high strike rate.
As per ESPNcricinfo, since IPL 2019, he had never crossed a strike rate of 138.8 for a season.
"I think somewhere along the way I lost that fun of hitting boundaries and hitting sixes. I wanted to take the game deep, deep, deep and that somehow stuck in my head," Rahul said.
Words
Rahul's hard work paying off
Rahul also attributed his recent success to the hard work he has put into his white-ball game in the last year.
He particularly credited Abhishek Nayar for their joint efforts in polishing his skills.
"We've spent hours and hours together talking about my white-ball game and how I can be better," Rahul revealed about their training sessions.
Information
Rahul's change of mindset as he highlights need of boundaries
"But now I have realised I need to go back... cricket's changed, and T20 cricket, especially, is only about hitting boundaries. The team that hits more boundaries and sixes ends up winning the game," the batter added.
Knock
Rahul scores vital 77 versus CSK
Rahul, who completed his fifty off just 33 balls, helped the Capitals finished at 183/6. He was well supported by the likes of Abishek Porel (33) and Sameer Rizvi (20).
Rahul's 77 off 51 balls was laced with six fours and three sixes. This was his maiden 50-plus score in DC colors.
Across 134 IPL matches, the wicketkeeper-batter has raced to 4,775 runs. His average of 45.47 is the highest among batters with at least 1,500 runs.
Journey
Rahul's journey to Delhi Capitals
Rahul, who led Lucknow Super Giants in the previous season, was released ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.
He was then bought by DC for ₹14 crore. Though the batter operated at number four on his DC debut, he opened the proceedings against CSK as the injured Faf du Plessis was unavailable.
It would be interesting to see where Rahul bats after du Plessis's return.