Lokesh Rahul IPL Profile

Kannur Lokesh Rahul, popular as KL Rahul, is an Indian cricketer who represents Karnataka in domestic cricket and Lucknow Super Giants in Indian Premier League. Born on 18 April 1992 in Mangalore, Karnataka, he is considered to be one of best batsmen because of his versatility in all three formats of the game. His ability to score fast and keep wickets in times of need makes him a great utility player for any side.

Rahul's diligence and hard effort helped him make it into the Under-19 team and later in the Karnataka Ranji team. He started playing first-class cricket for Karnataka in the 2010-11 season and his domestic performance earned him a Test call-up to the national side in 2014 on the tour to Australia. 

In his second Test match, he slammed his first Test century. He has been a regular member of the Test set-up for the country since then. He also led India for the first time in a Test match against South Africa in January 2022, becoming the nation's 34th Test captain. 

Rahul is part of Team India's shorter format as well. Initially, he was being considered as a Test speciallist, however, his stint in IPL and domestic level handed him a call-up in shorter formats. He made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe in the year 2016 where he scored a hundred. He also was adjudged the man of the series. 

He made his T20 debut against West Indies the same year. The tall, elegant right-hand batsman since then has been one of the most highly rated batsmen in ODI and T20 set-ups as well.

Rahul's IPL career has also been pretty prolific so far. He made his debut in the competition with Royal Challengers Bangalore after he was drafted into the side in 2013. But after just one season Sunrisers Hyderabad snapped him up. 

After two underwhelming campaigns with them, he returned to RCB in 2016 and put up a strong performance, scoring 397 runs in 14 matches. Since then he has not had to look back in this competition. He was bought by Kings XI Punjab in a mega auction for Rs. 11 crores in 2018 and he was appointed as their captain in 2021. 

During the mega auction in 2022, newbie Lucknow Super Giants drafted him for the side and picked him up as the captain. He registered a massive 616 runs in his debut season as a captain for LSG. 

KL Rahul comes from a family with rich educational background. His father is a professor of civil engineering and former director at the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK) in Mangalore. His mother is an associate professor at Mangalore University. He is married to Athiya Shetty, the Bollywood actress and the daughter of Bollywood star Suniel Shetty.