KL Rahul’s Masterclass Innings Helps Delhi Capitals with another Victory
What an Indian Premier League season 2025 has been so far. No wonder this league has got the fans hooked onto it throughout the two-month long cricket festival.
On April 10, the match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium proved to be an encounter which is going to remain unforgettable for both the teams in many ways.
After being asked RCB to bat first, the team from south got a flying start from their openers in their home ground, in front of their own crowd. Phil Salt and Virat Kohli stormed to a 50-run score in just three overs—the fastest team fifty in the IPL history.
However, RCB’s innings unraveled quickly, plummeting from a commanding 80/0 to 90/4, eventually settling at 163/7. In what was an anticipated prediction, the Delhi Capitals (DC) continued their unbeaten count, getting a fourth straight win of the season.
They defeated RCB and have them a second home loss, something they surely did not see coming. One man who made this happen was ironically the man from Bengaluru itself, KL Rahul.
DC came to bat hoping they would chase the target of 164 comfortably. But their joy was short-lived as opponents picked up three wickets inside the powerplay and had DC struggling at 67 for 4 after 11 overs.
Then came the man of the hour, KL Rahul – who arrived and conquered the stadium in his own (kl)assy style. He finished with an unbeaten 93 off just 53 balls and celebrated in the perfect manner, proving a point to silence the critics.
At one point he was 29 off 29 balls, struggling with his timing and looking slightly slow initially. But then started his trail blazing, when he took on every bowler of the RCB camp and dazzled on the ground.
The hero of the evening won the player of the match award, playing an innings to lead his team on a comfortable six-wicket victory and hand over a loss to the team that was once his own playing franchise too.
Rahul credited his time behind the stumps as a wicketkeeper for helping him assess the nature of the pitch and pace his innings smartly. The right-hander smashed six sixes and seven boundaries in his onslaught, anchoring the chase.
The middle order batsman was at his aggressive best as he marked his territory near the pitch post the win. The animated gesture showed that he owns the arena they were playing in, having played majority of his cricket career in Bengaluru as local boy.
The RCB loyalists, who had packed stadium were silenced by the local man KL Rahul, with his unstoppable and fiery innings. Alongside Tristan Stubbs, Rahul and his partnership led DC to cross the finish line, as they snatched the two points from the hosts, with 13 balls remaining.
KL Rahul yet again proved that he could score runs at any batting order, which exemplifies his unmatchable class and ability to score big in a crunch phase of a game.
Rajat Patidar and his men must definitely find a way to turn things around and look to get back at their winning ways, going forward.
