India opening batsman KL Rahul was picked by Kings XI Punjab franchise for a whopping amount of Rs 11 crores during the IPL players auction held in Bengaluru. Rahul had represented Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the previous editions of the tournament.
He scored 725 runs in 39 IPL matches at a strike-rate of 125.65 – among them, 397 came in 2016 – while he was with RCB – at a strike-rate of 146.69.
However, the Karnataka lad did not have a great outing last year and was out of the national side for a long time due to injury. But that did not stop the franchises from investing heavily in him.
After grabbing Rahul in the auction, the Preity Zinta co-owned KXIP side took to Twitter to share the details of their most expensive buy of the IPL 2018 auction.
“Our most expensive buy of the #IPLAuction, @klrahul11 is ready to prove his worth! #KnowYourKings #LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi”, KXIP tweeted.
Our most expensive buy of the #IPLAuction, @klrahul11 is ready to prove his worth! #KnowYourKings #LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi pic.twitter.com/biO2lixT21
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) February 3, 2018
Replying to the post, Rahul expressed his excitement of joining the new franchise and wrote, “Boom! Excited and looking forward to play for @lionsdenkxip
Cannot Wait! 💪🏼🤩 #LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi.”
Boom! Excited and looking forward to play for @lionsdenkxip
Cannot Wait! 💪🏼🤩#LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi https://t.co/XWD9fa1eLD— K L Rahul (@klrahul) February 3, 2018
A useful buy for Kings XI
KL Rahul has tasted a fair amount of success in T20s for India. He also has a century against the Windies in the format back in 2016 at the United States of America. Kings XI Punjab hasn’t won the tournament ever since its inception. The franchise is likely to bank on Rahul for taking them off to healthy starts in the upcoming edition of the league. He is most likely to partner Chris Gayle or Aaron Finch at the top of the order.
