KL Rahul Joins Delhi Capitals Ahead Of IPL 2026

India batter KL Rahul has joined Delhi Capitals (DC) ahead of the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. DC posted a video of KL’s arrival at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. On arriving at the pitch, KL pulled out his famous Kantara movie celebration, which he had done during the match against eventual champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in his home state of Karnataka. After playing an aggressive unbeaten 93-run knock off 53 balls in a chase of 164 set by RCB, KL, usually a calm, collected, and reserved figure in the dressing room, was seen unusually animated and aggressive, thumping his chest and pointing towards the ground and at his jersey as if saying that it (the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium) was his territory. He moved his bat on the pitch in a circular motion and aggressively tapped it on the ground. Later, he revealed that the celebration was inspired by the 2022 Kannada movie Kantara.

Making a reference to KL’s words after that win, DC posted, “Ye tera ground hai, Rahul. Welcome back home.”

Last season, KL was at his most aggressive in years, scoring 539 runs in 13 matches at an average of 53.90, with a strike rate of almost 150, including a century and three fifties. He was DC’s top run-getter and the overall ninth-highest run-scorer. He was also DC’s leading six-hitter, with 21 maximums.

In 145 matches, KL has scored 5,222 runs in 136 innings in his IPL career, which has seen him play for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), RCB, Punjab Kings, and finally DC. These runs have come at an average of 46.21 and a strike rate of 136.02, including five centuries and 40 fifties. He was the Orange Cap winner in the 2020 season with PBKS, scoring 670 runs in 14 innings, with a century and five fifties.

He will be aiming to get as close as possible to the 6,000-run mark, if not reach it. If he achieves this milestone, he will be the fifth batter after Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and David Warner to reach the landmark. Currently, he is the seventh-highest run-getter in the competition’s history.

DC will start their campaign against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 1 in Lucknow.

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