K. L. Rahul

Kannanur Lokesh Rahul

File:LOKESH RAHUL (15573141953).jpg KL Rahul at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2015
Personal information
Full name	Kannanur Lokesh Rahul
Born	(1992-04-17) 17 April 1992 Mangalore, Karnataka, India
Batting style	Right-handed
Role	Batsman; Occasional wicket-keeper
International information
National side	India
Test debut (cap 284)	26 December 2014 v Australia
Last Test	20 August 2015 v Sri Lanka
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2010–present	Karnataka
2013	Royal Challengers Bangalore
2014–2015	Sunrisers Hyderabad (squad no. 11)
2016–present	Royal Challengers Bangalore
Career statistics
Competition Test FC LA T20 Matches 4 34 28 32 Runs scored 250 3,313 1,067 653 Batting average 35.71 55.25 41.03 24.18 100s/50s 2/0 10/11 2/8 0/3 Top score 110 337 110 62 Balls bowled - - - - Wickets - - - - Bowling average - - - - 5 wickets in innings - - - - 10 wickets in match - - - - Best bowling - - - - Catches/stumpings 4/– 35/0 17/1 14/0
Source: Cricinfo, 20 August 2015

Kannanur Lokesh Rahul (born 18 April 1992), commonly known as KL Rahul and also as Lokesh Rahul, is an Indian cricketer who plays for India national cricket team in international cricket, and Karnataka in domestic cricket. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional wicket-keeper. Rahul played for India at the 2010 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup. He was a part of the IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2013. In 2014, he was bought by the Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs. 1 crore at the auction. In the 2016 season he returned to the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Rahul started his international career debuting against Australia in the 2014-15 Test series at Melbourne. In his second Test match at Sydney, he scored 110, his maiden Test century.

Domestic career

Rahul made his debut in the 2010-11 season, playing first-class cricket for Karnataka. He made his debut in Indian Premier League in 2013, playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore .

Playing for South Zone in the final of the 2014–15 Duleep Trophy against Central Zone, Rahul scored 185 off 233 balls in the first innings and 130 off 152 balls in the second. Although his contribution went in vain with South Zone losing the match by nine runs, his efforts earned him the man of the match award and selection to the Indian Test squad for the Australian tour in December 2014.

Against Uttar Pradesh in the 2014–15 Ranji Trophy, Rahul became the first triple-centurion for Karnataka in first-class cricket on 30 January 2015, scoring 337 off 448 balls at Bengaluru. His knock included 47 fours and 4 sixes. He also made 188 runs in the final against Tamil Nadu and finished the same Ranji season with an average of 93.11 in the nine matches he played.

International career

After an excellent domestic season in 2014, Rahul was picked in the Indian Test squad for the Australian tour. He made his Test debut in the Boxing Day Test beginning on 26 December 2014 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He replaced Rohit Sharma and was handed over the Test cap by MS Dhoni. He came to bat at number 6 and made 3 runs in the first innings. In the second innings he played at number 3 and made only 1 run. He retained his place for the fourth Test played at Sydney Cricket Ground. He opened the innings with Murali Vijay and made 110 runs, his maiden international hundred.

He was a part of the 15-man squad for the tour of Bangladesh in June 2015 but later withdrew due to dengue fever. He then made a comeback into the Test team in the first Test of the Sri Lankan tour after Murali Vijay was ruled out due to a hamstring injury. But he did not show any progress as he got out early in both innings for less than 10 runs. In the second match of the series, Shikhar Dhawan lost his place due to injury and was ruled out of the rest of the tour. Rahul replaced Dhawan and made his second Test century, 108 runs from 190 balls, which included 14 fours and 1 six. India went on to win the match to level the series and Rahul was named as the man of the match. His wicket-keeping skills came in handy, when Wriddhiman Saha got injured. Rahul took a catch to dismiss Angelo Mathews in the second innings.

Personal life

KL Rahul Was born in Mangalore to parents Dr. KN Lokesh and Rajeshwari. He was raised in his hometown (Mangalore) and moved to Bangalore at the age of 17.

Rahul's father, who was a big fan of Sunil Gavaskar, wanted to name him after Gavaskar's son, but mistook the name of Gavaskar's son "Rohan" as "Rahul".

Rahul started playing the game of cricket with a tennis ball, in Mangalore at the age of 11. His cricket journey began at the Dakshin Kannada Cricket Association's Nehru Maidan in Mangalore under his first coach Samuel Jayaraj. At the age of 17, Rahul moved to Bangalore and in 5 years time he was wearing an India Cap for the first time.

He was part of the India Under-19 World Cup squad in 2010. The same year, he made his first-class debut for Karnataka against Punjab.

Rahul's father Dr.KN Lokesh said in an interview that Rahul started playing cricket at the age of 11. He was good at both studies and cricket. He played volleyball, hockey, football at school but cricket was his priority.

Rahul's father Dr. KN Lokesh is a professor and Head of Department of Civil Engineering at the NITK, Surathkal. Rahul's mother Rajeshwari is also a professor, in history, at Mangalore University.

International centuries

Test centuries

KL Rahul's Test centuries
S.No.	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Year	Result
1	110	2	Australia	Sydney, Australia	Sydney Cricket Ground	2015	Drawn
2	108	4	Sri Lanka	Colombo, Sri Lanka	P Sara Oval	2015	Won

Awards

Test Man of the Match awards

No.	Series	Match Performance	Result
1	2nd Test – India in Sri Lanka in 2015	1st innings: 108 (190 balls, 13×4, 1x6); 1 ct. 2nd innings: 2 (3 balls) ; 1 ct.	India won by 278 runs.

External links

• Player profile: K. L. Rahul from ESPNcricinfo
• Player profile: K. L. Rahul from CricketArchive
• Lokesh Rahul's profile page on Wisden