After missing Delhi Capitals (DC)’s opening match of IPL 2025, KL Rahul is likely to be available for the second game against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) on March 30. With a six day gap between the first and the second game, Rahul has plenty of time to get upto speed. The wicketkeeper had missed the game against his former side, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), as he and his wife Athiya Shetty had recently welcomed their baby girl. In his absence, Ashutosh Sharma steered DC to a narrow win over LSG.
Rahul joined the team after the game against LSG, and seemed all smiles during a team-bonding event, where the players were imitating one another and participating in light-hearted games.
He entertained his teammates by nailing the batting stance and accent of DC mentor Kevin Pietersen. “Mate, any guesses?” Rahul jokingly asked, as Pietersen burst out of laughter.
KL RAHUL at the DC Team Dinner pic.twitter.com/tmJpQgcAtJ
— Jyotirmay Das (@dasjy0tirmay) March 26, 2025
DC had congratulated Rahul and Athiya on the birth of their daughter with a heartwarming video.
In a video shared on DC social media with the caption “Our family extends, our family celebrates”, Rahul’s teammates congratulated him by doing a ‘Mother’s Lap Baby Swing’ action. In the video, with the Heyy Babyy song ‘Meri duniya tu hi re’, skipper Axar Patel can be heard singing the song “Aa le chak mai aa gaya”.
Commenting on the post, Rahul shared, “Lads, this means so much to us, thanks a million.”
Rahul was bought by Delhi Capitals for Rs 14 crore in the mega auction after Lucknow Super Giants decided not to retain him following a public falling out with franchise owner Sanjeev Goenka at the end of the 2024 season. The wicketkeeper will be hoping to strive in the shortest format after having successfully regained his spot in the ODI and Test setup of the national team.
Rahul was instrumental in India’s 2025 Champions Trophy-winning campaign. The wicketkeeper-batter was reliable behind the stumps and a clutch performer in his role as finisher with the bat.
In four innings, he finished unbeaten on three occasions. He was particularly crucial during India’s chases in the all-important knockout games, scoring an unbeaten 42 not out and 34 not out against Australia and New Zealand in the semis and finals, respectively.
Delhi Capitals squad: KL Rahul (wk), Axar Patel (c), Jake Fraser-McGurk, Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, T Natarajan, Karun Nair, Mohit Sharma, Dushmantha Chameera, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Darshan Nalkande, Sameer Rizvi , Donovan Ferreira, Tripurana Vijay, Manvanth Kumar L, Vipraj Nigam, Madhav Tiwari
(With IANS Inputs)
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