KL Rahul Makes Rare IPL History Amid DC's Slump

In spite of the Delhi Capitals' recent struggles, KL Rahul set a rare tournament run-scoring record during IPL 2026. He achieved this milestone during the team's eight-wicket loss to Kolkata Knight Riders, even though his personal contribution was a mere 23 off 14.

DC suffered its seventh defeat of IPL 2026 against KKR, which almost put an end to any hopes of them making it to the play-offs. Put to bat, the home side was restricted to a mere total of 142/8. Pathum Nissanka finished as the top scorer, with 50 off 29 balls. For the visitors, Anukul Roy and Kartik Tyagi picked up two wickets each. KKR chased it down with ease in just 14.2 overs, thanks to a blistering 47-ball hundred from Finn Allen.

KL Rahul, who still remains among the season's highest run-getters with 468 runs in 11 matches, endured a tough outing against KKR and was dismissed by Kartik Tyagi in the 5th over. In that very over, the 34-year-old, however, also completed 1,000 runs for Delhi Capitals. He finished the day with 1,007 runs in 24 matches for DC, also becoming the fastest to breach the four-figure mark for the franchise.

Rahul achieved this feat in just 24 innings, significantly outclassing the previous record of 35 innings, jointly held by JP Duminy and Rishabh Pant. Furthermore, the Karnataka-born batter also became the only player in IPL history to score over 1,00 runs for three different franchises, with the record including the 34-year-old's previous stints with Punjab Kings (2018-2021) and Lucknow Super Giants (2022 to 2024). He accumulated 2,548 runs in 55 matches for PBKS before scoring 1,410 runs for LSG in 38 matches.

Overall, he is the IPL's fifth-highest run-getter of all time, with 5,690 runs in 156 matches at an average of 46.26, including six hundreds and 43 fifties. This season has also seen him set records with an unbeaten 152 off 67 balls against PBKS, making him the first Indian batter to cross the 150-run mark in the IPL. Rahul achieved the third-highest individual score ever recorded in the tournament during the match.

IPL 2026 has been highly successful for Rahul, as he became the first player to hit multiple hundreds for three different franchises. Demonstrating exceptional consistency, the right-handed batter has registered over 400 runs in eight of the last nine IPL seasons.

Legendary spinner R Ashwin was tasked with selecting an alternate Indian T20I squad, based on the players' performances in the ongoing 2026 IPL season. Among the many players, it was the selection of KL Rahul and Mohammed Shami that surprised many.

Speaking on ESPN Cricinfo, he first chose his two openers, KL Rahul and 15-year-old RR batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Both of them have been among IPL 2026's highest run-getters and have also hit a hundred in the tournament so far. He then included RCB skipper Rajat Patidar and left-hander Devdutt Padikkal, as well as PBKS skipper Shreyas Iyer, among the other batters in his alternate team.

As a backup for Rahul, Ashwin went ahead with RR's Dhruv Jurel, while also selecting DC's Ashutosh Sharma as the finisher. The 39-year-old picked his two primary all-rounders, SRH's Nitish Kumar Reddy and RCB veteran Krunal Pandya. He chose the Sunrisers' duo of Shivang Kumar and Harsh Dubey as the two spinners in his side, while leaving out a player of Yuzvendra Chahal's stature.

He then picked Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami, while expecting the two veterans to make a comeback into the Indian T20I side. R Ashwin finally selected LSG's Prince Yadav and CSK's Anshul Kamboj to play along with the two experienced bowlers.

(1569 Articles Published)