Ahmedabad: Delhi Capitals wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul became the fastest Indian to reach the 200 sixes milestone in the IPL, having achieved the feat in 128th innings, against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium Saturday.
The right-handed batter took the attack to Mohammed Siraj, in the third over, and after hitting him for a four on the previous delivery, created space for himself and slammed it over long-on. In doing so, he surpassed Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson, who took 159 innings to reach the milestone. Other Indians on the list include MS Dhoni (165 innings), Virat Kohli (180 innings), Rohit Sharma (185 innings) and Suresh Raina (193 innings).
Rahul is also the third fastest to reach the milestone behind only West Indies big hitters Chris Gayle and Andre Russell who took 69 and 97 innings respectively to reach the milestone.
Rahul batted at a strike rate of 200, and he went on to raise a quick-fire 28 as he gave momentum to Delhi Capitals’ innings in the powerplay before losing his wicket in the fifth over off a yorker by Prasidh Krishna which found him in front of the stumps.
Rahul has been a man in form for Delhi this season and has certainly lived up to the occasion. His strike rate of 158.33 this season is the highest of his 12-season tenure in the league. The 33-year-old has scored 266 runs across six innings and has been the anchor for the side.
His best outing came against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru when his unbeaten 93 led his side to a six-wicket victory at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. He was also pivotal in the 25-run victory over Chennai Super Kings where he scored 77. He was also the chosen one alongside Tristian Stubbs to lead the side to the famous Super Over victory over Rajasthan Royals in their last outing highlighting his clutch batting and Delhi’s trust in him.
