He scored 35 runs off 21 balls against Punjab Kings last night.
After enjoying a smashing season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 for the Delhi Capitals (DC), KL Rahul has revealed that he is gearing up for the next ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The defending champions India will host the tournament alongside Sri Lanka in February 2026.
Though Rahul last featured in the national T20 squad in November 2022, he is hopeful for a comeback in the team after having a great season in this ongoing IPL 2025. Notably, the 33-year-old has finished his campaign with 539 runs in 13 matches. His highest score this season came against the table-toppers Gujarat Titans when he notched up 112 not out off just 65 balls.
“Yes, I want to get back in the T20 team and the World Cup is in my mind, but for now, it’s just trying to enjoy how I’m playing right now. I obviously had some time to think about my white-ball game and white-ball cricket. I was quite happy with my performances and where I was,” he said to Nasser Hussain in a Sky Sports interview.
The wicketkeeper-batter is often criticised for his strike-rate in the 20-over format. However, he has worked on that aspect and the improvement was on display in this IPL 2025. Rahul recalled how the change of perception helped him to get better in this format.
“But [there] was a time probably 15 months ago or 12 months ago where I realised that the game is slightly getting ahead or it’s changing and becoming much more faster. And I said this in an interview as well, that it’s become more about the team that hits more boundaries is winning the games more often than the team that’s, I can’t say playing smarter, but the team that doesn’t hit as many boundaries is always finding themselves on the losing side. So that’s where white-ball cricket is getting,” he stated.
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The batter also acknowledged the former India batting coach Abhishek Nayar’s contribution behind his transformation of the T20 approach. Notably, Rahul has played 72 T20I matches since his debut against Zimbabwe in 2016. He has accumulated 2,265 runs including 22 half-centuries and two hundreds in the shortest format of the game.
“I haven’t been part of the T20 team in the last couple of years. [That’s] given me some time to think about my T20 game as well. So overall just sitting and thinking about these things, I’ve come up with certain things. Obviously, with the help of coaches that I’ve worked with, Abhishek Nayar is one of the guys I’ve worked with in the last 12 months quite a lot. He’s come into the Indian team as a batting coach [but has been removed since] so I spent a lot of time with him and he really helped in helping me change my thinking and helping me work on my game,” added Rahul.
Rahul’s franchise DC registered an upset last night with their six-wicket win over his former team Punjab Kings (PBKS). With this victory, they finished the league stage with seven wins in 14 matches.
However, this defeat has complicated the top two equation for PBKS. Now they will have to win their last fixture against the fourth-placed Mumbai Indians, who are also in contention for a top-two finish and depend on the results of the other teams’ remaining matches.
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