Mumbai, May 18: Despite his calm demeanour and low profile, Indian cricketer K L Rahul has tremendous sense of humour. He is very impressive in the TV advertisements too.
Remember his interactions with Sanju Samson in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 promotion ad!
Rahul has been around for years in international cricket and the IPL. He has even led Team India with success.
In the IPL, he earlier led the Punjab franchise and then in the last couple of seasons he has been the captain of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
Rahul's reactions after the IPL match on Friday night, alluded to the promotional video put out by broadcaster Star Sports about his father-in-law and senior film actor Suniel Shetty supporting Rohit Sharma, the top star of the local team Mumbai Indians, in IPL.
Though Shetty traces his roots to Karnataka from where Rahul also hails, he has lived his life in Mumbai and made a name himself as a popular film star.
The video released before the start of the IPL showed Shetty, whose daughter Athiya is married to KL Rahul, saying that relations do not matter during the IPL and his support would rather go to the local boy than his son-in-law, who plays for the Lucknow team.
After the LSG finished its IPL 2024 campaign on Friday, Rahul quipped that now he, along with his father-in-law, will now be cheering for "Sharmaji ka beta' (Team India skipper Rohit Sharma) and his teammates at the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024.
Speaking to the official broadcaster after LSG defeated Mumbai Indians by 18 runs at the Wankhede Stadium here past midnight on Friday, Rahul said, "I have got my father-in-law's support now and we will both be cheering for 'Sharmaji ka beta' (India captain Rohit Sharma) in the T20 World Cup."
The selectors have omitted Rahul from the World Cup team while Rohit will lead the side in the T20 World Cup starting on June 1 and being jointly hosted by the USA and the West Indies.
Nicholas Pooran struck a sensational 28-ball 75 to help Lucknow Super Giants reach a challenging total before they came back after a 45-minute rain break to quell Mumbai Indians by 18 runs despite blazing half-centuries by Rohit Sharma and Naman Dhir.
K L Rahul was an integral part of Team India in the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023 as the first choice keeper batsman. But after Rishabh Pant's return from car accident and Sanju Samson's outstanding form in IPL 2024, Rahul has not been able to retain his place in Team India squad. (With IANS support)