On Punjab Kings skipper KL Rahul's 29th birthday, a look at his 'KLassy' stats with the bat
KL Rahul will be taking the field on his birthday as his Punjab Kings side will face Rishabh Pant's Delhi Capitals in IPL 2021.
Kannur Lokesh Rahul - this young lad has surely become a household name due to his performances for the Indian cricket team. His fearless approach and elegant batsmanship, has made him successfully carve out a niche for himself.
From playing out stroke-filled knocks for Team India to leading the Punjab Kings (PBKS) franchise during the Indian Premier League (IPL) season, there is no denying that KL Rahul has become a mainstay across all formats.
The stylish batsman has grabbed the attention of fans both on and off the field. So as the 'KLassy' Rahul celebrates his 29th birthday on Sunday - the day his side will be taking on Rishabh Pant's Delhi Capitals (DC), a look at some of the batting stats that make him more impressive.
Wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul is one of only three Indians to score a 100 in all three international formats. He had also become the fastest player to score centuries in all three formats in international cricket, taking 20 innings cumulatively.
Overall he is the 12th man to achieve the three hundreds feat and knocked the whole thing off in 18 months.
First Test hundred: 110 v Australia, January 2015
First ODI hundred: 100* v Zimbabwe, June 2016
First T20 hundred: 110* v West Indies, August 2016
He is also the only batsman to reach 100 with a six in all formats.
KL Rahul was handed his ODI cap against Zimbabwe and his name was in the record books. He scored a magnificent unbeaten century.
With his huge six to reach 100, Rahul, scripted history by becoming the first Indian to score a ton on his ODI debut.
He eclipsed Robin Uthappa's record, whose 86 against England in 2006 in Indore on debut was the highest score by an Indian batsman on debut.
Rahul is also the first Indian batsman to score a half-century on debut on foreign soil.
KL Rahul in the series against Sri Lanka on the opening day of the Pallekele Test in 2017, joined an exclusive club of batsmen to score the most consecutive half-centuries in Test cricket history.
Rahul scored his seventh half-century and was in partnership with Shikhar Dhawan. The two had also created the record of highest opening stand for a visiting side in Sri Lanka when they put up 188, bettering the record of 171.
In the second Test at Colombo, Rahul fell for 57, which helped him equal the Indian record — six — of most consecutive Test half-centuries. Gundappa Viswanath and Rahul Dravid are the other two Indians with most consecutive fifties in Test cricket.
He joined the likes of Sir Everton Weekes (1948-49), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (2000-01), Andy Flower (2006-07), Kumar Sangakkara (2013-14) and Chris Rogers (2014-15) in scoring as many as seven fifties consecutively in Tests.
Rahul has achieved his feat in the 2016-17 season.
In 2018 IPL, the then Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul had smashed the fastest-ever fifty in IPL history off just 14 balls against Delhi Daredevils.
The previous record was held jointly by Yusuf Pathan and Sunil Narine, who had scored a fifty off 15 balls each. The record for fastest T20 fifty is held jointly by Chris Gayle and Yuvraj Singh (12 balls).
Rahul in the 2018 season notched up three 90-plus scores, and a year later in 2019, scored his maiden IPL century.
Rahul recorded a memorable 2020 season with Punjab Kings as he won the prestigious Orange Cap and accumulated 670 runs in 14 matches.
Rahul also demolished his former franchise RCB with his record-breaking 132-run knock and holds the record of scoring the highest-ever individual score (132*) by an Indian in IPL.