KL Rahul Cricket career Journey From Debut to Leadership Roles in 2025

Kannur Lokesh Rahul, more commonly recognized as KL Rahul, has had a fantastic adventure in the cricketing world.

He went from being a promising young batsman to one of the captain's of some of the teams at the highest stages of the game, THE international stage. His journey has been filled with a couple of significant runs, transitions, and roles in his career.

His journey is one of talent and development. In 2025, he began a new chapter with the Delhi Capitals, as he opted to turn away from captaincy so that he could focus on a different task.

How KL Rahul's cricket career has evolved from Domestic dominance to International Stardom?

KL Rahul's early development came from his domestic performances. He first began representing his state, Karnataka, in the 2010–11 season. During this same time he was representing India in the 2010 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, where he accumulated 143 runs.

His major promotion came in the 2013–14 domestic season, where he scored 1033 first-class runs, whilst being the second-highest first-class run-scorer in India.

His strong performances earned him a place in the Indian Test squad. He made his debut on Boxing Day in 2014, against Australia. The first match was slight, but in the very next match, which was at Sydney, he scored his first international century of 110 runs.

That was just the initial phase for him to create a successful international career. He was able to create an array of centuries in Test cricket including a gigantic 199 against England.

KL Rahul Cricket Career in the IPL

KL Rahul first experienced the Indian Premier League, or IPL, back in 2013 while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). After a few seasons with RCB and a few years spent between teams at Sunrisers Hyderabad, he finally broke through into his own as a competitive player.

KL Rahul's career really took a turn in 2018 when he joined Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) at a high price of INR 11 crore. Rahul gave an immediate impact after joining Punjab, when he scored the fastest fifty in IPL history, which he achieved in just 14 balls.

His tenure at Punjab was very productive. He hit a high volume of runs and amongst players in two seasons he won the Orange Cap in 2020 for the most runs in the season, scoring a remarkable total of 670 runs. With his regular performance, he was appointed captain of the team in 2020.

In 2022, his career continued with a captaincy appointment over a new franchise in the league with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). He signed for INR 17 crore, making him one of the highest-paid players in the league.

As a captain he led the team through their first season, which resulted in a playoff birth. KL Rahul also lead his team in runs, scoring a total of 616 runs. Continuing on in competitive stress, he scored 520 runs in the 2024 season.

However, his time with LSG ended after the 2024 season following public criticism from the team's owner after a heavy defeat.

KL Rahul cricket career : New Role and Challenges in 2025

There was a big shift for KL Rahul in 2025. After being released from LSG he was purchased by the Delhi Capitals (DC) for INR 14 crore in the IPL mega auction. Reports indicated he was offered the captaincy as well, but KL declined with the intention of just focusing solely on his player role as a Wicketkeeper-Batsman.

KL Rahul's transition with the new franchise also included a new position in the batting order. For many years KL was known for opening the batting at the top of the order in the IPL.

At Delhi Capitals, he was assigned to a middle-order role to add balance to the side based on the fact that another player, Harry Brook had withdrawn from playing; this meant KL had to transition to a new role which was challenging, however, it had been the role he was successful in for Team India in the 2025 Champions Trophy win.

Fans were left to observe KL's performance in this new role on platforms such as Kheloexch, where the chats and discussions on KL and his ability to adjust to playing in different roles dominated the conversations.

After missing the start of the 2025 season, Rahul came back with a different and more aggressive mindset and batting strategy. He started with the bat off row with a brisk 15 runs off just five balls and then delivered a match-winning knock of 77 off 51 balls against the Chennai Super Kings.

In changing his style of play, Rahul demonstrated a willingness to be flexible in his batting style. Many of the strategic discussions on Kheloexch360 were based on how this change in style of play would serve both Rahul and the Delhi Capitals.

KL Rahul Cricket career : Leadership Beyond IPL Captaincy

Although Rahul resigned from the IPL captaincy, it would seem that he is never far from conversations about leadership. With the Indian Test team preparing for a difficult tour of England, Rahul’s name has surfaced as a potential captain.

He has a calm manner and prior experience captaining India in Test matches which have been viewed as valued qualities. Subsequently, his performances as an impressive batter for Delhi Capitals has made him relevant to national teams’ leadership roles.

KL Rahul's journey has shown a player that has clearly evolved from someone with great promise to one with a great deal of experience.

The fact that he now becomes a member of the Delhi Capitals in, 2025, is not simply a reason to switch teams, but also a role change with a new mindset and expectations.

He remains a significant player in Indian cricket and morphing and producing in every role that he had adopted thus far.