Many believe it is impossible to find a balance between sports and studies. A few athletes have had to drop out of school or college to pursue their careers. A few very forced to abandon their dream of playing cricket for a more as they like to say "logical" career. And then there is KL Rahul, who not only excelled in cricket but also went on to complete his graduation. From the school and college grounds to the biggest and best stadiums in the world, this lad has conquered it all. This is the biography of KL Rahul, a superstar in the making in Indian Cricket.

About KL Rahul Cricketer

KL Rahul Biography

Kannur Lokesh Rahul was born on the 18th of April 1992 in Mangalore, Karnataka to academicians KN Lokesh and Rajeshwari. KN Lokesh is the head of the Department of Civil Engineering in NITK Surathkal and former director of the National Institute of Technology Karnataka. His wife Rajaeshwari is a professor at Mangalore University.

KN Lokesh was also a big fan of former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar. He named his son Rahul after Gavaskar's son’s name. It was later that he realized that Sunny's son was named Rohan. In a family of academicians, it was cricket that caught young KL's attention.

He started playing at the age of 11. However, his father put a condition ahead of him that he could play only as long he pursued studies. A deterred Rahul did not give up! He continued to study and practice side by side.

KL Rahul Wife

In 2023, KL Rahul got married to Bollywood actress and long-time girlfriend Athiya Shetty. She is the daughter of actor Suniel Shetty. She has played the leading roles in Hindi films Hero, Mubarakan, and Motichoor Chaknachoor.

On March 24, 2025, Indian cricketer KL Rahul and Bollywood actress Athiya Shetty welcomed their first child, a baby girl.

KL Rahul Career

In his teenage days, Rahul was coached by Samuel Jayaraj. In 2006, KL shifted his home base to Bangalore to hone his cricketing ability. With his shift, KL Rahul now had better guidance under former Karnataka players like KG Anil and Somsekhar Shiraguppi.

In 2010, KL Rahul was selected for India U19 to play at the 2010 ICC U19 World Cup. Within the year, Rahul was chosen to play for Ranji Trophy. He enrolled himself in Jain University's Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) course to keep up his promise to his father.

While normal kids cannot handle studies alone, KL was playing for Karnataka, India U19, and completing his graduation all at the same time. In the U19 World Cup at England, KL Rahul finished as India's second-highest run-scorer with 143 runs in six matches with an average of 28.60 and strike rate of 69.08. The boys in Blue finished 6th in the tournament.

Domestic Career

Breaking through the India U19 ranks, a young Rahul caught the eyes of Karnataka selectors. His performance at the U19 WC ensured that he was selected for Karnataka in Ranji Trophy. Rahul made his first-class debut in 2010-11 with Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy Super League.

Lokesh Rahul played only 3 matches with a nervous display of 105 runs at an average of 21.00. His under-par performance meant he was not selected for the 2011-12 domestic season.

However, KL got a second chance in the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy season. The young lad had a breakout season scoring 400 in 5 matches, at an average of 50.

The same season he was drafted in the Indian Premier League side Royal Challengers Bangalore squad. The next season saw the start of Rahul's best performances for Karnataka and became a regular in the squad. He scored 1,033 runs in 10 matches, averaging at 68.86. Rahul finished as the second-highest run-getter of the tournament as well as the highest of Karnataka.

KL Rahul continued to build on his promise and was selected for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy 2014-15. In the finals against Central Zone, Rahul scored 185 in the first innings and 130 in the second.

The brilliant performance caught the selector’s eyes and he was included in the Men in Blues' test tour down under. Returning from the test tour, Rahul build on his performance with 337 against Uttar Pradesh. He became Karnataka's first triple centurion.

In the Ranji Trophy final, Rahul scored 188 against Tamil Nadu as Karnataka ended their dominant season with the title. KL ended the season with an average of 93.11 in 11 matches.

KL Rahul Test Career

Dominant and consistent performances in the domestic circuit ensured Rahul became only the second player from Mangalore to make it to the Indian Test team. In 2014, he received his first International cap from MS Dhoni. Batting at a different position in number six, Rahul managed only 6 runs in the first innings. He was promoted to number 3 in the second innings, however, scored only 1 run.

Despite a nervous debut, MSD retained him for the next test on Sydney and promoted him at his favorable opening role. Opening the innings with Murali Vijay, Rahul scored 110 runs and recorded his maiden international century as India drew the test. The Karnataka opener was selected for the Bangladesh tour in June 2015 but withdrew because of Dengue.

In the following test tour to Sri Lanka, KL scored 108 runs as he picked up the man of the match award.

KL Rahul continued his consistent performances. This time he scored his third test century in the tour of West Indies and in the process became the 1st Indian opener to score a century in his debut Test in the West Indies. Rahul scored 50 in the second test as India won the series 1-0.

KL Rahul's best test innings came against England in Chennai on 15 December 2016. He scored 199, 1 run short of a double century as India scored 759. KL Rahul has been showing consistent display both in home and away matches since then to become a vital cog of Virat Kohli's test team.

He worked as a standing captain of Indian team in January 2022. He captained test team on tour of Bangladesh in December 2022 after Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was injured.

Since his last 100 against South Africa in 2021, Rahul failed to produce good shows and due to this in February 2023 BCCI sacked him from Test vice-captaincy.

KL Rahul ODI Career

A breakout domestic season and a century in his second test down under meant selectors could not get their eyes off him. KL Rahul finally got a chance to make his Indian debut in limited-overs and did so in style with an unbeaten 100* at the Harare Sports Club.

He became the first Indian batsman to score a century on his debut. Rahul followed it up with 63* in his third match to make it two Man of the Match awards in three ODIs. With his century, he became the only batsman to have scored test and ODI centuries in his first innings as an opener.

Every athlete faces hard times in their career. For KL Rahul it was from 2017 to 2019. Rahul's performances fell below par and he was consistently criticized for his lack of consistency. With Rohit Sharma and Shikar Dhawan set as India's openers in limited over format, Rahul had to settle for middle-order spots whenever he got the chance to play.

Between January 2017 and March 2019, the part-time wicket-keeper played only 10 ODIs, scoring 121 runs at an average of 13.4. Barring his high score of 60 against Afghanistan, KL Rahul hardly was able to score past 20 in this run-drought.

Rahul was brought back into the Indian squad in the Australia tour of India. He scored an average of 26 off 31 balls in the fourth ODI at Mohali. On the back of his good performance in the IPL 2019 season, KL Rahul received his ticket for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup.

During the 2nd ODI against the West Indies in February 2022, Rahul scored 49 (48) and completed 6000 runs in International cricket across all formats.

Rahul marked his cricket comeback during the Asia Cup 2023 clash against Pakistan, displaying an outstanding performance by smashing an unbeaten century, scoring 111 off 106 balls.

Following his impressive stint at the Asia Cup, Rahul secured a spot in the 2023 Cricket World Cup squad. Rahul kicked off his campaign in the 2023 World Cup by registering an unbeaten 97 against Australia in a challenging chase, rescuing India after the team lost 3 wickets with only 2 runs on the board. Additionally, he contributed 66 runs during the World Cup Final against Australia.

T20 Career

Lokesh Rahul made his T20I debut against Zimbabwe on 18 June 2016. It was not as memorable as his ODI debut as he got out for a zero. Hence, he became the first Indian batsman to be dismissed for zero on the first ball of a T20 match.

In the second match at Jamaica against the Windies, he scored an amazing 110 off only 46 balls. By doing so Rahul set the record for the fastest batsman to have scored centuries in all three formats in just 20 innings.

He also became the 1st player ever to score a T20I hundred at number 4 or below. On 3 July 2018, Rahul hit his second T20I ton against England. He also holds the record as the first Indian batsman to be dismissed hit-wicket in T20Is.

KL showed aggressiveness and consistency in T20s allowing him to continue being selected despite his stall in the ODI format. His second T20 international century came against England in Manchester on 3 July 2018.

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KL Rahul IPL Career

KL Rahul was a part of Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2013, but was bought for Rs. 1 Crore in 2014 by the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Rahul got limited chances to introduce himself in the two seasons with SRH. He played 20 games in 2 seasons scoring 539 runs at an average of 26.95.

Virat Kohli led RCB returned for the KL Rahul in 2016 and the opener responded in their confidence in spectacular fashion. KL scored 397 runs from 14 matches in RCBs run to the final. Despite his low score of 11 runs, the local boy was a new fan-favorite among the RCB fans.

Before IPL 2017, Lokesh Rahul hurt his shoulder and pulled out of the upcoming season. RCB revamped their batting order before the 2018 IPL and did not retain even Chris Gayle. Disappointed fans saw Rahul picked up by the Kings XI Punjab for ₹11 crores after a bidding war.

The decision came to bite Bangalore as they struggled with finding their opening partnerships. On the other hand, KL Rahul had his breakthrough season as an opener. Rahul scored 659 runs strike-rate of 158.41 and at an average of 54.91. In the six fifties, Rahul went on to cross 90+ runs three times.

Before 2022, KL Rahul parted ways with Punjab Kings and was made their captain by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for INR 17Cr. On 16 April 2022, Rahul scored his maiden century for Lucknow (103* off 60 balls) against Mumbai, becoming the first and only player to score a century in one’s 100th IPL match. He scored another unbeaten century (103* off 62 balls) against the same team eight days later. He is playing for Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League 2025.

KL Rahul Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

Bowling

KL Rahul IPL Stats

KL Rahul Workout Routine

A stylish batsman, a safe hands behind the stumps, and a fast and agile fielder- KL Rahul is amongst the fittest players in the Indian Cricket team. The Karnataka lad keeps himself fit by various exercises. Apart from his cricket training, Rahul ensures he never misses out on push-ups, pull-ups, box jumps, battle rope waves, and front squats.

While push-ups are simple, they engage and target most of the body including arms, core, and back muscles. Box Jumps are a modification to jump squat, as a result, helping Rahul to build his explosive power- a must for every athlete.

Front squats help to strengthen his quads, hamstrings, and calves. While Battle rope waves help to exercise his biceps, triceps, shoulders, and his back muscles, pull-ups focus on his arm and back muscles.

Unknown Facts

• Rahul has scored 7 consecutive 50’s and is the only Indian to achieve this feat.
• Ever wondered how many tattoos Rahul has? Well, the number stands at seven and counting.

• KL Rahul idolizes Rahul Dravid. Incidentally, he also shares his name with him.
• KN Lokesh was also a big fan of former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar. He named his son Rahul after Gavaskar's son name.

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KL Rahul Social Media