Recently when England’s premier fast bowler Jofra Archer was asked about the most difficult or competitive batter he ever bowled to where it came to the Indian Premier League, then he came up with an interesting bit of an answer. And truth be told, the humongously talented and endlessly competitive fast bowler, who was originally born in Barbados, in the West Indies, didn’t take a hugely famous name that may appease the die hard Indian cricket fans. Even as the name that volatile and fast Archer took was that of a household name.
It was that of the technically sound and endlessly stylish KL Rahul. When asked to elaborate his answer, then the famous fast bowler who is carrying forth the next generation of England’s fast bowling responsibility in this post Stuart Broad and post Jimmy Anderson era highlighted a key fact.
Jofra Archer simply happened to share that a few seasons ago, in the earliest stages of his own arrival into the famed Indian Premier League, KL Rahul was at his peak. And that he was a hard guy to dislodge from the crease.
And truth indeed is that KL Rahul, who actually top scored for the noted Delhi Capitals side in the 2026 edition of the series along with a glorious century, was actually a hard batter to bowl to.
He is a cricketer who perhaps has the rare distinction of combining a sense of elegance to power hitting. That also perhaps explains why he is entrusted with the high octane responsibility of opening the innings. That’s what Rahul did with Pathum Nissanka of Sri Lanka.
In the exact words of Jofra Archer about KL Rahul, the following insights came to life about the talented cricketer with the Midhas touch who happens to have also represented the world famous Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the past-
“Probably KL Rahul in the first few years of the IPL. He was in his prime then, and it felt like he could hit any ball anywhere. He was really hard to bowl to."
At 34 years is age, with 159 games in the Indian Premier League to his name, the elegant and stylish striker of the ball has conjured north of 5,800 runs at an average of 46. He’s also struck north of 500 fours in the elite franchise based competition.
