While KL Rahul leads the Lucknow Super Giants with finesse, his affection for his initial IPL team, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), remains evident.
KL Rahul embarked on his IPL journey with RCB, joining the esteemed franchise before the 2013 season. The wicketkeeper-batsman disclosed that it was Virat Kohli who encouraged him to join the Royal Challengers after he impressed in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Rahul revealed that Kohli didn’t leave him much choice; he practically insisted that Rahul sign on the dotted line. Playing for RCB had always been a dream for the Karnataka player.
In the midst of all the IPL 2024 excitement, Rahul shared insights about Virat Kohli’s reaction when he first got wind of Rahul joining RCB. This candid conversation took place during a chat with star off-spinner R Ashwin on his YouTube channel.
Reflecting on his journey, especially when RCB picked him up for the 2013 season, Rahul, who recently turned 32, reminisced about the milestones along the way.
“Virat was there (ITC Gardenia), coach Ray Jennings and other support staff were also there and Virat only said, ‘Would you want to sign this contract and play for RCB?’ I was like, ‘Are you kidding? It was always my dream.’ And then he said, ‘I’m just kidding. It’s not an option, just sign this contract.’ I signed and Virat said ‘It’s gonna be a crazy ride. You’re going to enjoy a lot in the next couple of months,” Rahul said in a video shared by Ravichandran Ashwin on his YouTube channel.
“The things that I learned (at RCB) in those two months, I mean the amount of time it would have taken me to be the player by playing just Ranji Trophy would have probably taken it 7-8 seasons. Those two months in the IPL, I gained so much knowledge and experience and everything was fast-forwarded,” LSG skipper further added.
Rahul expressed how much he valued his time at RCB, mentioning that the two months there taught him lessons he couldn’t have learned elsewhere.
He compared the accelerated growth he experienced at RCB to what would have taken several seasons of playing Ranji Trophy to achieve.
The 32-year-old batsman emphasized the wealth of knowledge and experience he gained during his brief stint in the IPL, highlighting how everything seemed to fast-track. Additionally, he shared his sentiment of wishing he could have ended his IPL journey with RCB, considering it was where he began his IPL career.
“I would have also loved to play for Bangalore. I had started there; I would have liked to finish there and that was there in my head. But the beauty of IPL is that you get to go into different teams with different players.” – KL Rahul concluded.
Comments 2