IPL 2020: KL Rahul says he took inspiration from this batsman to score record ton against RCB

Dubai: Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) captain KL Rahul has revealed the name of the person who inspired him to score a record century against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2020 on Thursday (September 24). Thanks to Rahul’s quick-fire 132, KXIP thrashed RCB by 97 runs. This was KXIP’s first win of the tournament after losing their opening game to Delhi Capitals (DC) in Super Over.

Rahul’s top-class knock was praised by present and former cricketers. He made the most of two dropped catches from opposition captain Virat Kohli.

After scoring 206/3 in 20 overs, KXIP bowled out RCB for 109 in 17 overs. Rahul won the Man-of-the-match award. His knock of 132 (69 balls, 14x4, 7x6) is the highest by an Indian in the history of IPL.

Watching him smash the RCB bowlers in Dubai, Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Rohit Sharma took to Twitter to praise his India teammate. “Some solid shots there by @klrahul11 classy hundred (sic),” the opener wrote.

Today (September 25), Rahul posted a reply to Rohit and said he was inspired by the Mumbai batsman’s last knock against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Abu Dhabi. Rohit had scored 80 off 54 balls as they won.

“Thanks Ro, took inspiration from your last innings (sic),” Rahul tweeted. After the match, the Karnataka batsman had said, “As a leader it's important to lead from the front. It's a complete team performance, really happy. I told Maxi (Glenn Maxwell) that I am not feeling completely in control of my batting, he said, ‘you must be joking, you are hitting really well’.”