Lucknow Super Giants opener and captain KL Rahul faced his former franchise today, the Punjab Kings, at the Ekana stadium in Lucknow.
KL Rahul hit a steady half-century against Punjab Kings. The opener scored 74 runs off 56 balls with the help of 8 fours and a six, helping his side to the eventual total of 159, which seemed par because of the two-paced nature of the surface in Lucknow.
With this 74-run innings, KL Rahul unlocked a huge milestone in his IPL career and even beat Chris Gayle by setting a new record!
KL Rahul crossed the 4000-run mark in the IPL in his 105th IPL innings, surpassing the previous record holder, Chris Gayle, who reached this landmark in 112 IPL innings.
Top 5 players fastest to 4000 IPL runs:
| S.No | Player Name | Team | Innings to 4000 runs |
| 1. | KL Rahul | Lucknow Super Giants | 105 |
| 2. | Chris Gayle | Punjab Kings | 112 |
| 3. | David Warner | Delhi Warner | 114 |
| 4. | Virat Kohli | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 128 |
| 5. | AB de Villiers | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 131 |
The 30-year-old has amassed 4044 runs at an average of 47 and strike rate of 136. KL Rahul has smashed 4 centuries and 32 fifties in the IPL.
Rahul started his IPL career in 2013 with RCB. He then moved to SRH for two seasons before returning to RCB in 2016 and was part of the side that reached the final.
After missing the 2017 season due to injury, KL Rahul was bought by Punjab Kings in 2018 and in 2020 was made their captain. He left Punjab after 2021 and joined Lucknow in 2022.
This was KL Rahul’s first half-century of the IPL 2023 season
Rahul didn’t have a great start to his IPL 2023 campaign, having managed scores of 8, 20, 35, and 18 in his first four innings. But LSG were playing well as they won 3 out of their first 4 matches.
LSG vs PBKS Teams:
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): Rahul(c), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Nicholas Pooran(w), Ayush Badoni, Avesh Khan, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Mark Wood, Ravi Bishnoi
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Atharva Taide, Matthew Short, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Sikandar Raza, Jitesh Sharma(w), Shahrukh Khan, Sam Curran(c), Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh
