Top 3 KL Rahul IPL knocks at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali
Punjab Kings (PBKS) will host KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Match 38 of IPL 2023 at their home venue of Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali. Punjab won their last match and will be confident of maintaining their momentum on home turf.
For Lucknow, captain KL Rahul has once again hogged all the headlines – for all the wrong reasons. His strike rate and intent at the crease have been a bone of contention for a while now and his sluggish approach in the last match cost his side the match. He needs to come out better placed against his former franchise.
Rahul has enjoyed the surface at Mohali and this match could be the snapping point he needs to go back to being his old belligerent self.
We take a look at 3 best KL Rahul knocks at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali:
#3 71(53) vs SunRisers Hyderabad, 2019
KL Rahul was a big pick by Kings XI Punjab and he was also the captain of the side. Punjab were up against the SunRisers Hyderabad and Rahul won the toss and elected to bowl first.
On a slightly sluggish surface in Mohali, the Punjab bowlers put in a disciplined effort and never allowed SRH to break free. Only David Warner found some runs but even he limped to 70 off 62 balls.
Chasing down 150, Kings XI Punjab found great momentum as KL Rahul joined ranks with Mayank Agarwal to dominate SRH. Rahul was in his zone and stayed unbeaten on 71 as Punjab eased home to a win.
#2 51(16) vs Delhi Daredevils, 2018
The KL Rahul people want to see, the Rahul everyone knows and loves. Back in 2018, Kings XI were taking on Delhi. Led by Gautam Gambhir, Delhi posted 166 runs on the board and considering the conditions, this score was expected to be par.
However, Rahul had other ideas. He marched out and smashed the Delhi bowlers from the word go. He took on the bowlers in the first six overs and when he was eventually dismissed by Mohammed Shami, he had smoked 51 off 16 deliveries in an innings that consisted of six fours and four sixes.
An astounding knock and was rightly awarded player of the match.
#1 71(36) vs Chennai Super Kings, 2019
Faf du Plessis led the charge as the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) cruised along and ended at 170 back in 2019 after Punjab had asked them to bat first. He was given good support by Suresh Raina and the score looked decent on a surface that assisted the slower bowlers.
Not for Rahul. He decided to break free in the first six overs and started a stunning assault on the CSK bowlers. In Harbhajan Singh's second over, Rahul smashed him for 4, 4, 4, 6 and 6 as he led the chase with aplomb. He was eventually dismissed by Harbhajan, but not before he had scored 71 off 36 runs as Kings XI Punjab won the match with ease.