Kings XI Punjab’s newly-appointed skipper, KL Rahul, turned 28 on Saturday (April 18). Despite getting off to a great start in his international career, Rahul lost his place as an opener with the resurgence of Shikhar Dhawan in the limited formats. Nevertheless, he batted brilliantly at his new number 5 position during the home series against Australia and on the New Zealand tour.
Rahul at his prime is a treat to watch, and fans have already seen his exploits for the Kings XI Punjab in the last two seasons. In the 2018 edition, KL romped his way to the fastest fifty in IPL history, smacking it in just 14 balls.
Well, the Karnataka lad has been batting with a motive to regain his status as the opener in the Test format and undoubtedly, a place in the forthcoming T20 World Cup as well.
On his 28th birthday, KXIP co-owner Preity Zinta wished Rahul’loads of love’, ‘happiness’ and ‘a tonne of runs’.
Priety took her official Twitter handle and wrote: “Happy Birthday @klrahul11! Wish you loads of love, happiness and a tonne of runs. Keep smiling and shining always. #birthdayboy #Ting.”
Happy Birthday @klrahul11 ! Wish you loads of love, happiness and a tonne of runs 🤗 Keep smiling and shining always. #birthdayboy #Ting pic.twitter.com/LueqaagAGK
— Preity G Zinta (@realpreityzinta) April 18, 2020
KL was the top performer for India in the limited-overs leg of the New Zealand tour. The right-handed batsman scored 221 runs in the five-match T20I series while he accumulated 204 runs in the ODIs.
On his ODI debut against Zimbabwe, Lokesh Rahul became the first Indian batsman to score a century in his first game for the country in the 50-overs format. He is also the fastest batsmen to score centuries in all three forms of the game. Rahul took just 20 innings to achieve the record feat.
