KL Rahul says that he never thought of being picked by Kings XI Punjab

When we think of Kings XI Punjab we never think of IPL playoffs. The Kings XI Punjab haven’t won the title even once and have disappointed their fans more often than not. They have reached the final only once but apart from that they remained on the bottom half of the table for the major part of the tournament. IPL 11 brought more promise from the new look side as Virender Sehwag seemed to have instilled the much-needed firepower into the franchise.

The Kings XI Punjab made some very good buys at the IPL Auction 2018. The services of Chris Gayle, Karun Nair, Ravichandran Ashwin, Andrew Tye and KL Rahul were acquired. The franchise has impressed everyone so far and is currently placed third on the points table. A couple of wins can take them to the knockouts. One of the major reason for the positive performance of Kings XI Punjab is KL Rahul who is in the form of his life.

A dream season for Rahul

In the 10 matches that KL Rahul has played, he has scored  471 runs at an impressive average of 58.88. His strike-rate of 156.48 has also made a huge difference for Punjab at the top of the order. His prolific run-scoring has put Kings XI Punjab in a strong position in the points table. The 26-year old has played some elegant shots and has proved to the world that unorthodox shots are not the only way to succeed in T20 cricket.

“Kings XI Punjab was in the last of the list I had in my mind. I thought I’ll remain in Bangalore or will go to some other club but never thought of being picked by Punjab.” Rahul said in an exclusive chat with India TV. The change of franchise has worked wonders for Rahul who has also received a national call-up into the ODI side. Rahul missed the previous edition of the IPL due to a shoulder injury.

“I am in a good mind space and have a hunger to score runs. KXIP have shown so much of faith in me, so I have to deliver and win games for them. It’s in my nature that when I go on the ground, I assess the situation and try to win the game for my team,” he added. Kings XI Punjab spent 11 crores to acquire KL Rahul who has proved that he was worth every penny.

The job is only half done as IPL is towards the business end where things start to get interesting. Rahul needs to provide his team with good starts on a consistent basis to strengthen their position on the points table.

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