KL Rahul’s Stellar IPL 2025 Form Puts Him in Contention for T20I Return Ahead of Bangladesh Series
KL Rahul likely to return to India’s T20I squad for Bangladesh series after a superb IPL 2025 season with 493 runs at a 148.04 strike-rate.
KL Rahul Likely to Make T20I Comeback for India After Explosive IPL 2025 Season With Delhi Capitals
Performing brilliantly throughout the IPL 2025, KL Rahul is again in the limelight and is a strong contender to return to the Indian T20I squad. The experience of the seasoned top-order batter is in sensational form with the Delhi Capitals, scoring 493 runs in just 11 innings at a strike-rate of 148.04. His performances included one magnificent unbeaten century and three lovely fifties, reviving hopes of an international comeback in the shortest format.
The recent report by The Times of India has said that Rahul could be called back for the T20I setup of India for the upcoming tour to Bangladesh, which consists of six white-ball games-three ODIs and three T20Is. This is being mulled by the selection committee under the captaincy of Ajit Agarkar, who otherwise is also focussing on framing his team for the T20 World Cup scheduled to be hosted in India next year.
Rahul’s last appearing in the Indian T20I jersey goes back to November 2022, during the T20 World Cup semifinal against England, which turned out to be an embarrassing one-sided loss for India. Ironically, his 5 runs from 5 balls reflected a pathetic campaign, in which he only managed 128 runs at a strike-rate of 120.75 before being axed from the side.
But the 33-year-old batsman has burned brightly to promote his cause for a comeback. His recent outings show a certain revitalized change of mindset within him, and he really put an exclamation point on that in the match-winning 112* off 65 balls against Gujarat Titans at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Although DC ended up losing that match as GT chased the scores very comfortably, Rahul’s innings stood tall and along with that, he also completed the fastest 8000 T20 runs by an Indian.
Rahul’s T20I portfolio speaks for itself: 2,265 runs from 72 matches at a healthy strike rate of 139.12, wherein 2 centuries and 22 fifties have come into the account. His return obviously would add experience and some depth in the Indian top-order, as preparations gather for the T20 World Cup next year, especially as he was not part of the title-defending squad that was led by Rohit Sharma in 2024.
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Former Australian cricketer Tom Moody also joined the discussion and defended Rahul from the often unreasonable criticism hurled at him. He said in ESPNcricinfo: “I always find the criticism around KL Rahul quite extraordinary. I think he’s a lot better player than a lot of people give him credit for.”
So with form, fitness, and motivation all there on his side, KL Rahul could well be on the verge of pulling off one of the most unlikely comeback stories ever wrought at the start of this year. To give a clearer picture on evolving strategies of India going into the all-critical home World Cup, the nod for Rahul for the T20Is in Bangladesh will be a telling sign.
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