After the first match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 return was washed out due to rain, Sunday's double-header brought relief and excitement for cricket fans. In the evening clash between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Gujarat Titans (GT), DC looked shaky on their home turf at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, but KL Rahul ensured the match stayed thrilling.
Not only did Rahul anchor the innings, but he also broke a major record—shattering the milestone Virat Kohli held for long. The DC player become the fastest Indian batter to reach 8,000 runs in T20 cricket. While Kohli had taken 243 innings to reach this feat, Rahul achieved it in just 224, making him the first Indian to reach 8,000 T20 runs in under 230 innings.
Globally, Rahul now ranks third on the all-time fastest list, behind Chris Gayle (213 innings) and Babar Azam (218 innings).
After reaching his fifty in just 35 balls, KL Rahul powered his way to a century in 60 deliveries. Leading from the front, he struck 11 fours and 4 sixes along the way—marking his fifth IPL hundred!
In fact, the wicketkeeper-batter has scored IPL hundreds for three different teams—2 with Punjab Kings (PBKS), 2 with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), and 1 with Delhi Capitals (DC). He also became the 1st right-handed batter to score a century this season.
The batter, who opened the innings, stayed unbeaten till the end, powering DC to a total of 199 with a brilliant 112 off 65 balls. Fans were thrilled to see him return to form and peak at just the right time.
One said, "KL Rahul scoring a Hundred in front of Gill is a statement to BCCI for Test Captaincy".
Another said, "KL Rahul 4.0 is such a refreshing sight".
One wrote, "KLR's redemption in the IPL! Clutch performance for DC when they needed him most. 5th IPL ton for the star!"
Another added, "You can make KL Rahul play anywhere, and he will perform and score runs. He's a very rare player who can play in any position and never complains".
Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel, Sameer Rizvi, KL Rahul(w), Axar Patel(c), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Mustafizur Rahman
Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Sherfane Rutherford, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Arshad Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna