'From not being seen as a T20 specialist to becoming a beast' - Virat Kohli reflects on KL Rahul's 'great' IPL transformation

Virat Kohli has branded KL Rahul and Yuzvendra Chahal’s IPL transformation as the best in the league’s history. Kohli, who relinquished RCB’s captaincy in 2021, has led both Rahul and Chahal at the Bangalore-based franchise in the league. He recalled how Rahul, who never looked a “T20 specialist” transformed to stamp himself as a “beast” in the league. 

Rahul made his IPL debut with RCB in 2013 before representing the franchise again in 2016 as he plied his trade for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in between for a couple of seasons. The 2016 season, in particular, when RCB reached to the final, was when he grabbed the spotlight, amassing 397 in 14 games at 44.11 and striking at an impressive 146.69. 

While he did not play the 2017 edition of the tournament, the lowest Rahul has tallied in any year after that is 593 in 2019, while all other years reaping him in excess of 600 runs, including his Orange Cap-winning 670-run tally in 2020. 

Chahal, on the other hand, established himself as one of the mainstays of the RCB franchise between 2014 to 2021 after making his debut with the Mumbai Indians. However, he was not retained by the franchise ahead of the 2022 mega auction and will represent Rajasthan Royals for the foreseeable future. 

“The only two people who come to mind for me are KL (Rahul) and Yuzi (Yuzvendra Chahal). KL Rahul was at RCB in 2013 along with Karun and Mayank. KL Rahul was never a guy who was looked at as a T20 specialist. He was part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2015 and Avinash Vaidya was our manager before. He approached me because he was in touch with KL Rahul, and he was not getting any game time. And I had seen him play for India,” said Kohli on ‘The RCB Podcast’.

I thought this guy has unbelievable talent and he can play for RCB: Virat Kohli

Kohli stated that he did connect much with Rahul after he moved to Punjab Kings in 2018. “I hadn’t seen much of KL since he left RCB, and I had heard he is doing well in first-class cricket. He was very young when he was at RCB, and I was already playing for India and we were regularly playing for RCB. So, we never really connected in a very detailed manner.”

Referring to Rahul’s time at SRH in between his two stints for RCB, he said: “He was playing for the Sunrisers and wasn’t getting many opportunities and the opportunities that he got, I felt like he was playing under pressure, you could see he was trying to prove a point, trying to prove himself in the IPL. When the opportunity came through, I thought, this guy has got unbelievable talent and maybe playing for Bangalore and RCB would ease things off for him because there, he’s playing in front of his home crowd and there’s AB, Chris, and myself here and if KL can play a role, maybe he can grow in confidence.”

 “He doesn’t need to be the focal point or that youngster who has to prove himself. It’s all about being a part of this great team and showing what he can do. And the way he batted that season, for me, that was a great transformation of seeing a player who was just there and there about to becoming suddenly this beast in six months. From there on he’s carried through,” he said.