IPL: KL Rahul’s personal feat comes a cropper as Punjab turn up the heat

There are no better sights in contemporary cricket than to see KL Rahul in top gear. The senior pro of Indian cricket showed the fire still rages in the belly when he became only the third player – and first Indian – to hit 150-plus in the history of IPL on Saturday though it came in a losing cause.

It was a hot afternoon at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the capital which saw Rahul, now 34, turn up the heat again for Delhi Capitals in a season which has already seen him plunder 357 runs. A record target of 265 looked daunting by any stretch of imagination despite the favourable batting conditions, but Punjab Kings came up another evidence of their new found self belief when they overhauled it to prevail by six wickets with seven balls left.

The smaller boundaries, along with the belter of a wicket on offer provided a perfect stage for Rahul to unfurl strokes all round the wicket against a Punjab attack which looked clueless – 16 boundaries and nine sixes dotting his unbeaten 152 off 67 balls. However, the 'double trouble' of Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh made use of the conditions for a blistering powerplay, though it was eventually Shreyas Iyer's brutal assault of 71 (off 36 balls) which took them home.

The way individual landmarks and team totals are falling by the wayside in IPL, it won’t be long before the likes of a Abhishek Sharma or Priyansh Arya race to a 150-score. However as on date, it’s the highest individual score by an Indian in IPL history as Rahul surpassed Abhishek Sharma’s 141 (against Punjab Kings, 2025). Striking at over 200 throughout the 20 overs, Rahul completed his century off 47 balls - which marked just the third 150-plus score in IPL history after Chris Gayle’s 175 not out (RCB vs Pune Warriors, 2013) and Brendon McCullum’s 158 not out (KKR vs RCB, 2008). 

What’s more, it’s the first time in 13 years that a batter has scored 150-plus in IPL. ‘’There are mixed emotions about the innings,’’ said a visibly fatigued Rahul who worried about suffering from cramps. Dropped on 18 by Shashank Singh, Rahul made full use of the reprieve to forge a 220-run with local boy Nitish Rana (91) for the second wicket. It was second biggest stand for any wicket in IPL history behind 229 set by Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. ‘’It was satisfying to play cricketing shots and Rana was also in full flow,’’ Rahul said at innings break.

Highest individual scores in IPL
175* - Chris Gayle (RCB) vs PWI, Bengaluru, 2013
158* - Brendon McCullum (KKR) vs RCB, Bengaluru, 2008
152* - KL Rahul (DC) vs PBKS, Delhi, 2026
141 - Abhishek Sharma (SRH) vs PBKS, Hyderabad, 2025

Highest individual scores by an Indian (Men’s T20)
152* - KL Rahul vs PBKS, Delhi, 2026
151 - Tilak Varma vs Meghalaya, Rajkot, 2024
148 - Abhishek Sharma vs Bengal, Secunderabad, 2025
147 - Shreyas Iyer vs Sikkim, Indore, 2019
146* - Punit Bisht vs Mizoram, Chennai, 2021