Having shared the dressing room with him during the early stage of his Indian Premier League (IPL), India batter KL Rahul has picked former South Africa captain AB de Villiers as his inspiration in cricket. Rahul played two seasons (2013 and 2016) with de Villiers during his time at with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). During a recent interaction, Rahul was asked to name his inspiration on the cricket field. While he picked his father as his off-the-field inspiration, Rahul picked his former RCB teammate de Villiers’ name in cricket.
“In life, my father, but on the cricket field, I have been very inspired by AB de Villiers,” Rahul said in a video uploaded by Star Sports.
Rahul made his IPL debut with RCB in 2013, before joining SunRisers Hyderabad in 2014. However, he returned to RCB in 2016, helping them reach the final, where they lost to his former team SRH.
In 2017, Rahul had to skip IPL due to a shoulder injury before joining Punjab Kings ahead of the 2018 season.
Currently with the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Rahul will lead the franchise for a third straight season during IPL 2024.
His campaign was cut shot last year due to a quadriceps injury, which has come back to haunt him in the ongoing Test series against England too.
Rahul played the series opener in Hyderabad, before missing the remaining matches due to the same issue.
He has also been ruled out of the fifth and final Test, having travelled to London to get an expert opinion on his injury.
He became unavailable after the series-opener in Hyderabad in January and as per the BCCI, he was 90 per cent fit before the third Test in Rajkot earlier this month.
“Mr. KL Rahul, whose participation in the final Test was subject to fitness, has been ruled out of the fifth and final Test in Dharamsala. The BCCI Medical Team is closely monitoring him and coordinating with specialists in London for further management of his issue,” the Board said in a release.
(With PTI Inputs)
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