Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Team India’s senior batter KL Rahul made his first appearance in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26. He was part of defending champions Karnataka’s XI against Tripura at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Saturday, January 3.
Rahul came out to bat at No. 5 after Tripura elected to field first. He got off to an impressive start, scoring 35 runs off 28 balls with the help of a six and four fours.
His promising shot ended in the 38th. The 33-year-old lost his wicket playing hook on a short delivery from pacer Ajay Sarkar.
Goalkeeper Sentu Sarkar produced a spectacular one-handed catch to cut short Rahul’s stay at the crease. You can watch the video of this stunning capture below:
Notably, KL Rahul was India’s stand-in captain for the three-match home ODI series against South Africa. He led the Men in Blue in the absence of regular captain Shubman Gill and vice-captain Shreyas Iyerwho were ruled out due to their respective injuries.
The hosts secured a 2-1 series victory against the Proteas. Rahul notched back-to-back half-centuries in the first two matches, registering scores of 60 (56 balls) and 66* (43 balls). He didn’t get a chance to bat in the third ODI.
KL Rahul likely to play one more Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 match before IND vs NZ ODIs 2026
KL Rahul could play one more match in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 for Karnataka before joining the Indian team for the upcoming three-match ODI series against New Zealand at home.
According to Dainik Jagranthe star batter will be available for Karnataka’s next match against Rajasthan on Tuesday January 6. Meanwhile, India’s ODI series against New Zealand is scheduled to begin on January 11 at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara.
The second and third ODIs will be played at Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot (January 14) and Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore (January 18) respectively.
Edited by Aditya Suketu Desai
