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RCB (Source: Twitter)
The skipper of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and a senior player in Team India, KL Rahul has expressed his lifelong desire to play for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Being a Bangalore native, he emphasized the special connection he has with the RCB franchise.
The 31-year-old cricketer has been a part of various IPL teams throughout his career. The wicketkeeper batter played for the RCB franchise in 2013 and 2016 and later joined Punjab Kings (PBKS) from 2018 to 2021. In the last two IPL seasons, he has served as the captain of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). In a recent interview with SG Cricket, Rahul opened up on his bond with the franchise.
"RCB gave me the opportunity to showcase my talent when I was young. I am also from Bangalore, so I always dreamt of playing for RCB when the IPL started. I was lucky that I got to play for them for a few years, so RCB is very close to my heart," as reported by Times Now.
The star wicketkeeper batter has represented the franchise in 19 matches and has scored 417 runs at an average of 37.90 and a strike rate of 145.29. He has even scored four half-centuries in the process. During the 2016 IPL season, he scored 397 runs in 14 games at an average of 44.11 and a strike rate of 146.49, with his highest score being 68*.
I hope this is not a one-off situation: Gautam Gambhir on Rahul
While Rahul has been fulfilling the role of the wicketkeeper-batsman in limited-overs matches recently, he will also assume the same role in the Tests against South Africa. Former India batsman Gautam Gambhir expresses the hope that this decision is not a one-time occurrence and anticipates Rahul to continue keeping wickets in the upcoming home series against England.
“I hope this is not a one-off situation because that would be unfair. His real challenge will not be wicketkeeping in South Africa, but on rank turners, in that five Test match series against England when Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar will be bowling. No challenge is bigger than that. If you are looking at these two Test matches, then I would rather not play him because I would look at long-term plans,” Gambhir told Star Sports.