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King XI Punjab skipper KL Rahul propelled his side to their first win of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 with a record-breaking century against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Dubai on Thursday (September 25).
Rahul, who opened the batting for KXIP along with Mayank Agarwal, raced to his half-century off 36 balls. In the second half of the innings, Rahul cut loose to complete his hundred off just 62 deliveries.
After his century, the 28-year-old faced seven balls in which he smashed 32 runs. Rahul’s unbeaten 132 boosted Punjab to finish with 206/3 in their stipulated 20 overs. In reply, Virat Kohli-led RCB were never in the chase and were bundled out for 109 in 17 overs.
Records created by KL Rahul with his unbeaten century:
- KL Rahul’s unbeaten 132 is the highest individual score by a captain, a wicketkeeper and also by an Indian in the IPL. Rishabh Pant’s 128 not out for Delhi Daredevils [now Delhi Capitals] in 2018 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) was the previous highest IPL score by an Indian and also by a keeper. Virender Sehwag’s 119 for Daredevils against Deccan Chargers in 2011 was the previous highest IPL score by a skipper.
- 132* by Rahul is now the highest score by a keeper-captain in the T20 format. The previous highest was Ishan Kishan’s unbeaten 113 in the 2018-19 Syed Mushtaq Ai T20 tournament against Manipur.
- Rahul became the first Indian player to score T20 centuries in four different countries.
- Rahul completed 2000 runs in the IPL during the match against RCB. He took just 60 innings to reach the landmark; the fastest Indian by surpassing Sachin Tendulkar (63).
- Rahul’s unbeaten 132 is also the highest individual score in T20 cricket format in the UAE. The previous highest was William Porterfield’s unbeaten 127 for Ireland against the USA.
- The 132-run knock by Rahul is also the highest T20 score as captain by an Asian surpassing Dasun Shanaka’s 131* in Sri Lanka’s domestic T20 tournament.
