He generally plays as an opener in Test and T20I match formats and plays in the middle order in the ODIs. Rahul is a regular wicketkeeper in the shorter formats of the game at both international and domestic levels. Rahul was a member of the Indian team that won the 2018 and 2023 Asia Cup.

He made his international debut against Australia in the Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne in 2014. Two years after his Test debut, Rahul made his One-Day International debut against Zimbabwe in 2016. He made his T20I debut later on the same tour.

Rahul is the first and only Indian cricketer to score an ODI century on his debut. He is the fastest batsman to score an International Century in all three formats. He only needed 20 innings to achieve this feat.

Early and Personal Life

Rahul was born on April 18, 1992 to K. N. Lokesh and Rajeshwari in Bangalore. His father Lokesh, Magadi Taluk, who hails from Kannanur, is a professor and former director at the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), Mangalore. His mother, Rajeshwari, is a professor at Mangalore University. His father, Lokesh, who was a fan of cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, wanted to name his son after Gavaskar's son but confused Rohan Gavaskar's name with Rahul.

Rahul grew up in Mangalore and did his high school from NITK English Medium School and his pre-university studies from St. Aloysius College. He started cricket training at the age of 10 and two years later started playing matches for both the Bangalore United Cricket Club and his club in Mangalore. At the age of 18, he moved to Bangalore to study at Jain University and pursue his cricket career.

On January 23, 2023, Rahul married his long-time partner, Indian actress Athiya Shetty, daughter of actor Suniel Shetty, after dating for more than three years.

Domestic Career

Rahul made his first-class cricket debut for Karnataka in the 2010-11 season. In the same season, he represented his country in the 2010 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, scoring 143 runs. He made his Indian Premier League debut for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2013. During the 2013–14 domestic season, he scored 1,033 first-class runs, making him the second highest scorer that season.

Rahul played for South Zone in the 2014–15 Duleep Trophy final against Central Zone, scoring 185 off 233 balls in the first innings and 130 off 152 in the second. He was named player of the match and included in the Indian Test squad for the subsequent tour of Australia chosen.
When Rahul returned home after the Test series, he became Karnataka's first triple-centurion, scoring 337 against Uttar Pradesh. In the 2014–15 Ranji Trophy final against Tamil Nadu, he scored 188 and ended the season with an average of 93.11 in the nine matches he played.

International Career

Rahul made his Test debut at the 2014 Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground. He replaced Rohit Sharma and received his test cap from MS Dhoni. He batted sixth and made three runs in the first innings; He played 3rd in the second innings and only made one run, but retained his spot for the next Test in Sydney, where he opened the innings with Murali Vijay and made 110 runs, his first international hundred.

He was part of the 15-man squad for the Tour of India through Bangladesh in June 2015 but pulled out due to dengue fever. He returned to the side for the first Test of the Sri Lanka tour after Murali Vijay was ruled out through injury, scoring his second Test century and winning the Man of the Match award. During the game he kept wickets after Wriddhiman Saha was injured.

He was named to the squad for the 2016 Zimbabwe tour and made his One Day International (ODI) debut against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club, going 100*(115) unbeaten on the debut. In doing so, he became the first Indian cricketer to score a century on his debut. He was named Man of the Series on his debut ODI. Series He also made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut later on the same tour.

He was included in India's squad for the 2016 Four Test Tour against West Indies. Rahul played in Jamaica in the second Test and had his highest Test score of 158 points. In doing so, he became the first Indian opener to score a century in his first Test in the West Indies. In the first game of the T20I series in the United States, he posted an undefeated Century 110* from 51 balls in a lost matter, which was the second fastest Century (46 balls) of all time and the fastest by an Indian.

He also set the world record for being the only player to score a hundred points in the first innings as an opener in both Tests and ODIs.

Lokesh Rahul set the record for fastest batter to score centuries in all three formats in just 20 innings, beating Ahmed Shehzad's record of 76 innings. He is the first player in T20I history to score a century (110*) while batting 4th or lower. On July 3, 2018, Rahul hit his second T20 International ton against England. He is also the first Indian batsman to be dismissed as a hit wicket in T20Is.

On 11 January 2019, Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul were suspended from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after making controversial comments on Indian talk show Koffee with Karan earlier in the month. They were both sent home to New Zealand ahead of the ODI series against Australia and the Tour of India games. On 24 January 2019, after Pandya and Rahul's suspensions were lifted, the BCCI announced that Rahul would be reinstated in the squad for India A games.

In April 2019 he was named to India's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. He scored his first hundred for India at the World Cup against Sri Lanka. In December 2019, in the first T20I game against the West Indies, Rahul scored his 1,000. Run in T20I cricket.

In January 2020, in the second ODI against Australia, Rahul hit 80 (52) shots in fifth place and was awarded Man of the Match. In the 2020 New Zealand India Tour, Rahul was declared Man of the Series in match five of the t20i series for scoring 224 runs with a 56 average. In the ODI series against New Zealand, he scored 88* (64) in the first ODI and hit his fourth ton in ODIs, 112 (113) in the third ODI.

In October 2020, Rahul was named India vice-captain for the ODI and T20I series against Australia. Rahul had a moderate ODI and T20I series against Australia. He made 77 against Australia in the second ODI and 51 in the first T20I. India lost the ODI series 2-1 but won the T20I series by the same margin. Rahul was included in the Test squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but was not included in the playing XI for the first two Tests. He was injured in training and was ruled out for the remainder of the tour.

He also missed the home Test series against England in February 2021 as a result. He returned to the national team for the T20I and ODI series against England. In the T20I series there was a dip in its shape. He returned to his ODI series form, scoring a match-winning 62* and was involved in a 100-run partnership with debutant Krunal Pandya, who scored a 50. He continued his form by hitting 108 runs in the second ODI and was involved in another 100 run partnership with Rishabh Pant.

Rahul has been called up to India's Test squad for his 2021 tour of England. With Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal injured, KL Rahul returned to the Cricket Test and opened alongside teammate Rohit Sharma. In the first test in Nottingham, Rahul scored 84 and 26 points. He scored a ton i.e. 129 (250) at Lords and was named Man of the Match in the second Test. Rahul hit 315 runs in eight innings from four games played and was the second highest run scorer for India on the tour while Rohit Sharma was the highest run scorer for the team.

Vice-captaincy (2021-present)

In September 2021, Rahul was named to India's squad for the 2021 ICC T20 Men's World Championship. He was the 11th-highest run scorer in the entire tournament, scoring 194 runs, including three consecutive fifties. He also scored the most agile 50 of the tournament in just 18 balls against Scotland.

After Virat Kohli stepped down as Indian T20i captain, KL was appointed vice-captain of the Indian cricket team in T20i while former vice-captain Rohit Sharma was appointed as the new captain of the T20i format. Later, KL was also appointed vice-captain of ODI due to captain change in Indian team's white ball format.

In December 2021, Rahul was named India's Test vice-captain for the away series against South Africa after India's regular vice-captain Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the series. Rahul was also named ODI captain for the One Day series of the same tour as India's regular ODI captain Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the series due to a hamstring injury. In the first Test match against South Africa in December 2021, he scored 123 in India's first innings and 23 in India's second innings.

He was awarded the Man of the Match award for this game-winning performance. In the second Test against South Africa in January 2022, Rahul captained India in Test cricket for the first time, becoming the 34th Test captain of India. He scored half a century on his debut as captain. Despite his best efforts, Rahul failed to lead the team to victory and India lost the second Test by seven wickets. He made his ODI Captaincy debut in the first ODI against South Africa, becoming the 26th Odi captain of India, however, India lost the series 3–0 to South Africa.

In February 2022, during the second ODI of India against the Windies, KL scored 49 (48) points and completed 6000 runs in international cricket in all formats. In the same ODI, KL suffered an upper left hamstring strain and was eliminated from both the next ODI and the upcoming T20Is series against the Windies.

Rahul was named captain of South Africa's tour of India in June but was later forced out of the series due to a groin injury. After a successful sports hernia operation, Rahul returned to the team and was named captain of India's tour of Zimbabwe in August.

Rahul was the stand-in captain of the team in the Indian team's last match in the 2022 Asia Cup against Afghanistan.

Due to his poor form, he was removed from the post of Test vice-captain in February 2023 and his place in the team was questioned.

Rahul returned to cricket in the 2023 Asia Cup against Pakistan. Rahul scored an unbeaten century on his return, scoring 111 off 106 balls.

After a successful Asia Cup, Rahul was named in the squad for the 2023 Cricket World Cup. Before the World Cup, Rahul was named captain for the first two ODIs of the series against Australia.

Rahul began his 2023 World Cup campaign with an unbeaten score of 97 against Australia in a tricky fightback after India lost three wickets when the score was 2.

Indian Premier League

Debut and Early Seasons (2013–2017)

Rahul made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) as a wicket-keeper batsman during the 2013 competition. Before IPL 2014, he was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 1 crore. Rahul returned to RCB ahead of the 2016 IPL season.

In the 2016 IPL season with Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rahul finished the season as RCB's 11th highest run-scorer and third with 397 runs from 14 matches. For his performances in the 2016 IPL season, he was named the wicketkeeper in the CricInfo and Cricbuzz IPL XI. Rahul missed the 2017 season due to a shoulder injury.

Stay with the Punjab Kings (2018-2021)

In the 2018 IPL auction, he was bought by Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) for INR 11 crore, the third highest price. In the team's first game of the season, he scored the fastest fifty in IPL history, needing 14 balls to reach the milestone and break Sunil Narine's record.

In total, KL scored 659 runs in the season at a strike rate of 158.41 and an average of 54.91. He finished the season as the third highest run-scorer and was included in Cricinfo and Cricbuzz's IPL XI.

Kings XI Punjab signed Rahul for the 2019 season. Rahul was appointed as the vice-captain for this season. He scored his first IPL century against Mumbai Indians by scoring 100 in 64 balls. In total, KL scored 593 runs in the season at an average of 53.90 and a strike rate of 135.38.

On December 19, 2019, Rahul was announced as Punjab's captain for the 2020 season after former captain Ravichandran Ashwin was transferred to Delhi Capitals.

In the match against RCB on September 24, 2020, he scored an unbeaten 132*, then the most runs scored by an Indian batsman in an IPL match.

Rahul won the Orange Cap in IPL 2020 for scoring the most runs in IPL 2020 (670 runs). He was also named the Dream 11 Game Changer of the season.

KL Rahul has been taken over as captain by Punjab Kings ahead of the 2021 IPL season. He scored 626 runs in IPL 2021, becoming the team's top scorer in the season.

Lucknow Super Giants (2022 – present)

Ahead of 2022, Rahul parted ways with the Punjab Kings and was drafted by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) as their captain for INR 17 Crore, making him the highest-paid cricketer in the IPL alongside Virat Kohli.

On April 16, 2022, Rahul scored his first century for Lucknow (103* off 60) against Mumbai. Another unbeaten century (103* off 62) against the same opponent followed eight days later.

Rahul led his team to the play-offs in his debut season for LSG, but lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the eliminator. Rahul was his team's top scorer and scored 616 runs in the season at an average of 51.33, scoring two centuries.

Rahul has been appointed as captain of Lucknow Super Giants for the 2023 season. Rahul was ruled out of the tournament midway through the tournament after he sustained an injury during a game against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Career Overview

As of March 2023, Rahul has made 14 international centuries - 7 in Test cricket, 5 in One-Day Internationals and 2 in T20Is. Rahul is the only Indian player to score a century on his ODI debut. He is also the first batter to score a century in T20Is while playing at the 4th or lower batting position.