KL Rahul had kept wickets in the IPL previously.
Delhi Capitals (DC) captain Axar Patel made the abrupt choice of switching the wicket-keeper in the middle of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Chepauk on Saturday. Abishek Porel swapped the gloves and pads with India’s designated ODI gloveman KL Rahul.
The change of role took place after a wasted DRS call by Porel during Mitchell Starc’s third over. Vijay Shankar had some bat to the ball as Axar was prompted to take the review by Porel.
The beautiful in-swinger from Starc slammed into Shankar’s toes and seemed to be heading to the middle stump. The yorker landing perfectly could’ve pushed Porel’s case, but he wasn’t able to convince the captain to go for the referral.
As the big screen flashed, it was clear that it was shoe first and bat next as DC players grimaced.
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That seemed to have spurred on the decision by DC to bring in Rahul to keep the wickets due to his experience and game-reading skills.
Rahul has proved to be a reliable source for DRS for India since MS Dhoni’s retirement.
It is a common practice for captains to ask the bowler and then the keeper for a second opinion before appealing for the referral.
DC’s decision proved to be a game-changing one because Rahul managed to take care of fielding positions inside the circle while Axar got hold of the outfielding placements according to the bowlers.
Until the last ball, Rahul seemed to be co-captaining alongside Axar as DC restricted CSK to 158/5 in 20 overs and won the match by 25 runs. It was half of the margin with which Royal Challengers Bengaluru had won at the Chepauk for the first time in 17 years, but DC remain the only undefeated side besides Punjab Kings who have played two matches so far.
Rahul starred with the bat as well, with his 77 off 51 balls propelling DC to 183/6 in 20 overs.
Collective efforts from all the bowlers – Mitchell Starc (1-27), Mukesh Kumar (1-36), Vipraj Nigam (2-27), and Kuldeep Yadav (1-30) – made sure that Axar was bowling just one over.
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