Currently one of the highest earners in the Indian Premier League, making it to this position wasn’t the easiest of rides for India wicket-keeper batter KL Rahul. It took him four seasons across five years to become an IPL millionaire with Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings). Been playing in the cash-rich league since 2013, Rahul earned in upwards of INR 10 crore for the first time during IPL 2018 mega auction.
Advertisement
Current Lucknow Super Giants captain, who belongs to Bengaluru and plays for Karnataka in domestic cricket, had made his IPL debut for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Interestingly, his second stint for them had come in 2016. Co-incidentally, Rahul represented RCB twice but only for a season each as he was ruled out of IPL 2017 due to an injury.
Rahul, both of whose IPL seasons for Royal Challengers had come under former India captain Virat Kohli, once revealed why he struggled performing for the franchise in 2013 and 2016.
KL Rahul Once Revealed Reason Behind Struggle Under Virat Kohli At RCB
Conversing with India Today after returning with a single digit score in the season opener and before Punjab’s second IPL 2019 match against Kolkata Knight Riders, Rahul shared a reason behind a breakthrough IPL season the previous year and how the same was missing at his home franchise.
For the unversed, IPL 2018 was a blockbuster season for Rahul. Plying his trade for KXIP for the first time in the 11th season of the IPL, Rahul had not only crossed the 400-run mark for the first time in an IPL season but also ended up amassing 659 runs at an average and strike rate of 54.91 and 158.41 respectively to finish as the third highest run-scorer behind Kane Williamson and Rishabh Pant.
“2018 was magical for me as far as IPL is concerned. With a really good and balanced team, this year should also be good. At RCB, I was under the shadow of Virat [Kohli] and AB de Villiers and here I am the number one, and that has helped.”
Rahul, whose 109 out of 174 international matches have come under Kohli, didn’t find any faults in his captaincy per se. If truth be told, the same would’ve come as a surprise considering how much Kohli has backed Rahul in the national team over the years.
Rahul, who ended up becoming Punjab’s highest run-scorer of all time, had successfully proved during a four-season stint as to how he thrives playing as the main batter of the side rather than as an understudy. Another stark difference between Rahul’s tenure at Punjab and Bangalore was his batting position. While he mostly opened the batting for the former, he also used to bat in the middle-order for the latter.
KL Rahul Had Earned 11x Salary Hike At KXIP In IPL 2018
While Rahul’s first IPL deal had fetched him an INR 10 lakh salary, it took him just one season to be on the receiving end of a 10x increment. With Sunrisers Hyderabad trading him to RCB for INR 1 crore, he hit a jackpot after KXIP bought him for an opulent INR 11 crore before IPL 2018.
Rahul, who later went on to lead Punjab in 2020 and 2021, also allured bids from Sunrisers, Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals in the 2018 auction. Even though he missed the previous season, franchises were always expected to bid aggressively for an all-format Indian batter such as him.
Having scored 2,548 runs across 55 innings at an average and strike rate of 56.62 and 139.76 respectively for Kings, Rahul justified his price tag to a tee. Speaking particularly of IPL 2018, it remains the only IPL season where he finished with a strike rate of more than 150.
It is worth mentioning that Rahul earned yet another spike in his IPL salary after he joined Super Giants ahead of the IPL 2022. Being a new franchise, they were allowed to sign three players before the auction. Rahul currently earns INR 17 crore per year from the biggest T20 league in the world.
