DUBAI: KL Rahul ended up ripping the record books with his 132-run knock, which came off just 69 balls, on Thursday for Kings XI Punjab against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
It was the highest score by a captain in the IPL and the highest ever by an Indian player in the history of the tournament. It also helped KXIP to a comprehensive 97-run win.
However, the 28-year-old revealed that he was not too confident about his batting before the match. "I have actually been not so confident. I had a chat with Maxi (Glenn Maxwell) yesterday and I said that I am not feeling completely in control of my batting. He said you must be joking, you are hitting really well," said Rahul in the post-match presentation ceremony in which he was also declared player of the match.
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"Quite honestly I was nervous but I knew if I spend time in the middle, hit a few balls from the middle of bat, it will all settle down."
KXIP ended up scoring 206/3 and the highest score for the team after Rahul's century was Mayank Agarwal's 26. The innings was however followed by a concerted effort from the KXIP bowlers who got RCB all out for just 109 runs.
"It's as complete a team performance as it can get. We had few different plans going into this game. We knew RCB have a power-packed batting line up and we had to get 2-3 wickets upfront and that also meant putting runs on the board, we know what these guys can do if they get set," said Rahul. "The analyst, coaches and the management will be happy."