KL Rahul profile – biography, personal life, career, stats, ranking and debut

Indian cricketer KL Rahul is currently one of the most popular figures in the Indian sport. A regular in the Indian team across all formats, Rahul is also the captain of the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the IPL. The right-handed batsman made his first-class debut for Karnataka in the 2010-11 season. In the same year, he represented India at the U-19 Cricket World Cup. In a way, it marked the start of his cricket career at the international level. Here’s a detailed look at KL Rahul’s personal life, age, net worth, IPL career, ranking and stats.

KL Rahul – bio, full name & birthday

KL Rahul (Kannur Lokesh Rahul), aged 29, was born in Bangalore on April 18, 1992. Rahul’s father, K. N. Lokesh, is a professor and a former director at NIT, Karnataka while his mother is a professor at Mangalore University. Being a huge fan of Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul’s father wanted to name his son after Gavaskar’s. However, he mistook Rohan’s Gavaskar’s name as Rahul. The 29-year old lad from Karnataka also owns a degree in Bachelor of Commerce before he began to pursue his dream to play cricket for India.In 2015, Rahul made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe and registered a historical feat to become the first Indian batsman to score a century on his ODI debut.

Personal life – Is Athiya Shetty KL Rahul’s wife?

Since becoming an international cricketer for India, Rahul’s career has seen a few controversies surrounding his personal life. He was hit by a major controversial episode in 2019 when he was forced out of the Indian team after his sexist comments on Karan Johar’s talk show ‘Koffee with Karan‘. A lot of speculation around KL Rahul and his relationship with his rumored girlfriend Athiya Shetty often sees the duo in the headlines for various reasons.

While fans speculate if Athiya Shetty is Rahul’s wife, the duo hasn’t made anything official. However, the couple is spotted spending some quality time together a lot of times. Even on India’s Tour of England 2021, Athiya was in England with KL Rahul during Team India’s break after the WTC final. Even Sunil Shetty, Athiya’s father, has been quite vocal about the two of them making a great couple together.

KL Rahul India debut and ICC ranking

KL Rahul made his Test debut for India at the Boxing Day Test against Australia at Melbourne in 2014. It wasn’t a memorable outing for the Banglaore player who replaced Rohit Sharma in the playing XI. He scored a total of four runs in his debut Test against Australia. However, he managed to retain his place in the XI for the Sydney Test and registered his maiden century for India in Test cricket.

ICC rankings

Rahul’s dip of form in Test cricket in the last couple of years has forced him to 75th position in the ICC Test Match rankings for players. However, in ODI, Rahul packs a punch with an impressive 27th position while continuing to raise his stature as a T20 batter on the 6th spot in the ICC T20I Rankings for Men’s.

IPL Salary, career & stats for KL Rahul

KL Rahul made his debut for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2013. However, after a dismal maiden season in 2013, the Bangalore-born lad shifted his base and joined Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). After a gap of two years, in 2016, Rahul returned back to RCB and emerged as one of the top run-getters in the IPL.He missed IPL in 2017 due to a shoulder injury. His IPL return in 2018 was marked by a huge auction bid by the then Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) to acquire him for a whopping price of INR 11 Crores. Rahul was the highest run-scorer for the franchise and third overall in 2018. In IPL 2020, Punjab Kings announced him as the captain as he finished as the Orange Cap holder that year.With an IPL salary of INR 11 Crores, KL Rahul is one of the highest-paid cricketers in this cash-rich league.

KL Rahul IPL Stats

Net worth & brand endorsements

KL Rahul is not only one of the most popular Indian cricketers but is also one of the highest-paid cricketers in India. His net worth is estimated at around $8.5 Million (~ INR 63 Crores). The captain of the Punjab Kings, Rahul has an IPL salary of 11 Crores. He also holds the BCCI annual contract as a Grade ‘A’ cricketer which offers him INR 5 Crores. Barring his earnings from cricket, Rahul also features as an ambassador for some of the renowned brands in India.The Indian cricketer has a number of brand endorsements including boAt, Zenovit, Cure.fit, Gully, Puma, BharatPe, and the Reserve Bank of India. Most recently, both Rahul and Athiya partnered together to promote NumiParis – an eyewear brand.

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(Stats updated as of July 2023)