The 152 vs Punjab Kings was not announced until it had already happened.
KL Rahul had done his bit this season, scoring enough runs to qualify his side for the playoffs on 25th April. The right-hander remained unbeaten on 152 and shared 220 runs for the partnership with Nitish Rana. He had a strike rate of about 226.86 for that game and trust me, that feels great for a batter after 156 runs.
Delhi Capitals 2026 Performance
His 2026 season with Delhi Capitals is the type of season that changes perceptions. It was his second season with the club which, after a 2025 where he scored 539 runs at 53.90 and fronted a club still trying to establish its identity, kept him on. If anything, the second chapter has been more productive to watch and more difficult to bat in.
By mid-May Rahul was leading the Orange Cap race with 533 runs from 13 innings. They were fourth in the standings and could qualify in the closing hours of the competition.
That number needs a time. Rahul has always had his detractors, and they have been pointing to the gap between his technical authority and his actual speed for years now (especially in his middle-overs at the top for LSG in previous years). It was never a question of whether he could bat but whether he batted fast enough.
Developing The character arc
Sounds like a character arc for him in 2026. Rahul scored his season-best score of 152 when his team had to chase 194 against RR. Rahul then made 71 in Jaipur.
But he has changed the level of his intensity. He’s changed his approach. The off-side is still geometrically timed and the footwork still precise, but in 2026 he added a willingness to go aerial in the powerplay that wasn’t always present. No analyst could tell that story better than this season’s 24 sixes.
In Delhi’s campaign, it’s been harder to judge him. Rahul played a high volume of innings in high-pressure chases and rescue situations which aren’t the platform-setting exercises you’d usually want for a top-order batter and the team was inconsistent enough in the first half of the season to put their own postseason hopes in jeopardy.
That is the trend over the season, a batter outdoing his teammates when the team is below its ability.
You could argue—and some will—that the 152 is carrying a mediocre base and the totals are fooling him. On closer inspection that argument is disproved. Three fifties were added to the century and his average for the season was just over 54. A bad season is not dragged down by one outlier. That’s one great peak mixed with consistency.
Rahul is now unstopable
At this age Rahul is now unstopable. But his team, Delhi Capitals, might not make it to the playoffs. What a great performance but Rahul couldn’t take his side home… That was a big blow for the Capitals.
Whatever his batting, Delhi required victories in their last two games, and also big results in other games to reach the top four. The math was always hard. He has been the glue that has held together a batting order that at times has looked like it might fall apart without him, but overall the order has held up throughout the season.
What does 533 runs at a strike rate of 171 from a 34-year-old who is still opening, leading and keeping wickets tell us about what comes next?