Kannur Lokesh Rahul (KL Rahul), is an Indian international cricketer. He plays for Karnataka in domestic cricket and captains Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League. He is a right-handed batsman and a wicket-keeper. He made his Test debut just ahead of the 2015 World Cup and has grown exponentially in limited-overs cricket over the last few years since the 2015 World Cup. In spite of many failures, Rahul has struggled and contributed a lot to establish himself in the ODI game, particularly due to a top-order that is already established and a consequent inability to grasp his role in the middle-order.
| KL Rahul (Cricketer) | |
|---|---|
| Bio | |
| Full Name | Kannur Lokesh Rahul |
| Profession | Cricketer (Batsman and Wicket-keeper) |
| Physical Stats & More | |
| Height (approx.) | in centimeters- 180 cm |
| in meters- 1.80 m | |
| in Feet Inches- 5’ 11” | |
| Weight (approx.) | in kilograms- 75 kg |
| in pounds- 165 lbs | |
| Body Measurements (approx.) | - Chest: 40 Inches |
| - Waist: 30 Inches | |
| - Biceps: 14 Inches | |
| Eye Colour | Brown |
| Hair Colour | Black |
| Cricket | |
| International Debut | Test- 26 December 2014 against Australia at Melbourne |
| ODI- 11 June 2016 against Zimbabwe at Harare | |
| T20- 18 June 2016 against Zimbabwe at Harare | |
| Coach/Mentor(s) | Samuel Jayaraj, GK Anil Kumar, Somsekhar Shiraguppi, Devdas Nayak |
| Jersey Number | #1, 11 (India) |
| #1, 11 (Domestic) | |
| Domestic/State Team | Bangalore Brigadiers (Urban), Karnataka, Karnataka State Cricket Association Colts XI, Royal Challengers Bangalore, South Zone, Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Favourite Shot | On drive |
| Records (main ones) | • The 2nd ever cricket player from Mangalore to play for Indian Test team, after Budhi Kunderan. |
| • The 1st ever Karnataka batsman to hit a score a triple century in first-class cricket (337 runs) against Uttar Pradesh in 2014-15 Ranji Trophy season. | |
| • The 1st Indian to score an ODI hundred on debut, against Zimbabwe in 2016. | |
| • In 2017, he became the 1st Indian and 6th overall cricketer to score 7 consecutive Test fifties. | |
| • The 1st Indian and 10th overall cricketer to be dismissed by hit-wicket in the T20 internationals. | |
| • In 2018, he smashed the fastest-ever IPL fifty (in 14 balls) against 'Delhi Daredevils' at the PCA Stadium in Mohali. | |
| Career Turning Point | When he scored 185 and 130 for South Zone in the 2014-15 Duleep Trophy final against Central Zone in Delhi, after which he was included in the Test series against Australia. |
| Personal Life | |
| Date of Birth | 1992-04-18 00:00:00 |
| Age (as in 2018) | 26 Years |
| Birth Place | Mangalore, Karnataka, India |
| Zodiac sign/Sun sign | Aries |
| Signature | |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Hometown | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India |
| School | NITK English Medium School, Surathkal |
| College | Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College, Bengaluru |
| Educational Qualification | Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) |
| Family | Father- KN Lokesh (Dean) |
| Mother- Rajeshwari (History Professor) | |
| Brother- None | |
| Sister- Bhavna (Younger) | |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Caste/Community | Lingayat |
| Food Habit | Non-vegetarian |
| Hobbies | Tattooing, Playing (tennis, football), Listening to music , Playing on PlayStation |
| Tattoo(s) | Right back- His dog Simba's face and his name written |
| Right shoulder- Unknown tattoo | |
| Left arm- Tribal tattoo | |
| Controversies | • In July 2016, when Indian cricket team toured West Indies, during a day off KL Rahul posted a photo with a beer bottle on Twitter. Then what, the image went viral but was not liked by some of the BCCI officials as according to them, it will send a bad example to the cricket fans. However, Rahul immediately deleted the photo after the BCCI's objection. |
| • In February 2017, when he tweeted about Ravichandran Ashwin following him on Twitter, he received various replies, one of which by "BeingChirag Dave" caught his attention as it was a harsh one. Rahul couldn't stop himself and gave him a sarcastic reply. | |
| • In 2019, he, along with Hardik Pandya, were invited in Karan Johar's talk show 'Koffee with Karan.' The episode stirred controversy due to their sexist comments. | |
| Favourite Things | |
| Favourite Cricketer(s) | Batsman- Rahul Dravid, AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli |
| Bowler- Dale Steyn, Mitchell Starc | |
| Favourite Cricket Ground(s) | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru |
| Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in Sydney | |
| Favourite Athlete(s) | Usain Bolt (Sprinter), Roger Federer (Tennis) |
| Favourite Football Team | Manchester United F.C. |
| Favourite Footballer(s) | Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Beckham |
| Favourite Food(s) | Sushi, Bhindi curry |
| Favourite Actor | Ranbir Kapoor |
| Favourite Actresses | Aishwarya Rai , Shraddha Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor, Scarlett Johansson |
| Favourite Music Band(s) | Linkin Park, Coldplay, The Script |
| Favourite Song(s) | "Firestone" by Kygo |
| "Ghost Town" by Adam Lambert | |
| "Cold Water" by Major Lazer feat. Justin Bieber & MØ | |
| Favourite Book | Life Without Limits by Nick Vujicic |
| Favourite App | |
| Favourite Superhero | Batman |
| Favourite Car(s) | Batmobile, Maserati |
| Favourite Colour(s) | Black, White |
| Favourite Destination(s) | Greece, Spain |
| Girls, Family & More | |
| Marital Status | Unmarried |
| Affairs/Girlfriends | Elixir Nahar (Model) |
| Sonam Bajwa (Actress) [1] | |
| Wife/Spouse | N/A |
| Style Quotient | |
| Car Collection | Mercedes AMG C 43 |
| Money Factor | |
| Salary (as in 2018) | Retainer Fee- ₹3 crore |
| Test Fee- ₹15 lakh | |
| ODI Fee- ₹6 lakh | |
| T20 Fee- ₹3 lakh | |
| IPL 11- ₹11 crore |
Some Lesser Known Facts About KL Rahul
- Does KL Rahul smoke? : Not Known
- Does KL Rahul drink alcohol? : Yes
- Rahul was born into a middle-class Mangalorean family with a teaching background.
- He has always been a sports junkie who throughout his childhood used to play all kinds of sports. His parents always encouraged him to play sports, but on one condition, that if his grades will decrease, he will have to stop playing sports, and he never let it happen throughout his studies.
- His father was a huge fan of Sunil Gavaskar and mistook the name of his son ‘Rohan’ as ‘Rahul,’ and thus named his son Rahul.
- He used to be a mischievous yet reserved as a kid.
- His father used to be the secretary of his school, and he took it for granted by taking certain advantages such as by coloring his hair, wearing casual shoes, etc.
- At the age of 11, he started his rigorous cricketing practice at St Aloysius College Centenary Grounds in Mangaluru Central and Nehru Maidan as well. When he was below 14, he used to play both the Under-14 and Under-16 Karnataka teams.
- In his early professional cricketing days, he wanted to grow long hair, but his coach told him that you can have long hair after achieving certain things in your career.
- He considers Rahul Dravid as his cricketing idol.
- He is counted amongst the most stylish Indian cricketers, who consider David Beckham as his style icon, who inspired him to get his first tattoo at the age of 15, and when his mother came to know about it, she got so upset with it that she didn’t talk with him for some time.
- At the age of 17, he moved to Bengaluru to pursue his cricket career and did his cricket training from the Karnataka State Cricket Academy (KSCA). The next year, he made his first-class debut in the Ranji Trophy for Karnataka in the 2010-11 season.
- While playing first-class cricket for Karnataka, he had bullied his junior teammate Karun Nai a lot.
- He had a disastrous Test debut against mighty Australia at Melbourne, where he scored only 3 and 1. He was low on confidence after the failure of his debut, but somehow managed to lift his spirits and in the next Test match at Sydney, he smashed his maiden ton (110 runs).
- He started his cricket career as an orthodox Test batsman but struggled to prove himself in the first few years of the IPL in 2014 and 2015. At that time, his childhood coach, Samuel Jayaraj, worked upon his technique and temperament to play aggressive cricket and in the IPL 2016, he came out all guns blazing as he scored 397 runs with a healthy strike rate of 146.
- Every time before going to the cricket field, he says “I’m the best” to himself to get motivated.
- If he wasn’t a cricketer, he would have been a soldier.
- He is quite spiritual and goes to a temple every Thursday.
- On 16 May 2018, he was so disappointed following a close loss to ‘Mumbai Indians’ that despite being given the ‘Player of the Match’ award, he gave it to a fan of his in the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
