Kohli recalled how he felt that Rahul becoming a part of RCB will ease off things for the latter.
Virat Kohli has branded the IPL transformation of KL Rahul and Yuzvendra Chahal as the best in the history of the league. Kohli, who quit the RCB captaincy in 2021, has led both Rahul and Chahal at the Bangalore-based franchise in the league. He recalled how Rahul, who had never seen a "T20 specialist", transformed himself into a "beast" in the league.
Rahul made his IPL debut with RCB in 2013 before representing the franchise again in 2016, as he traded his way to Sunrisers Hyderabad for a few seasons. The 2016 season, in particular, made headlines when RCB reached the finals, scoring 397 runs in 14 matches with 44.11 and an impressive strike of 146.69.
While he did not play the 2017 edition of the tournament, the lowest in any year after that, Rahul scored 593 runs in 2019, while in all other years he scored over 600 runs, including his Orange Cap-winning tally of 670. 2020.
Chahal, on the other hand, established himself as one of the mainstays of the RCB franchise between 2014 and 2021 after making his debut with Mumbai Indians. However, he was not retained by the franchise before the 2022 mega auction and will represent Rajasthan Royals for the foreseeable future.
“The only two people who come to mind for me are KL (Rahul) and Yuzi (Yuzvendra Chahal). KL Rahul was with RCB in 2013 along with Karun and Mayank. KL Rahul was never a player who was seen as a T20 specialist. He was part of Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2015 and Avinash Vaidya was our manager earlier. He approached me because he was in touch with KL Rahul, and he was not getting any playing time. And I saw him play for India," Kohli said on 'RCB Podcast'.
Kohli said that he associated a lot with Rahul after moving to Punjab Kings in 2018. “I had not seen KL much since leaving RCB, and I had heard that he was doing well in first-class cricket. He was very young when he was in RCB, and I was already playing for India and we were playing for RCB regularly. So, we never really connected in a very elaborate way."
Referring to Rahul's time at SRH between his two stints for RCB, he said: "He was playing for Sunrisers and was not getting many opportunities and opportunities, I felt like he was playing under pressure, you can see. He was trying to prove one thing, trying to prove himself in the IPL. When the opportunity came, I thought, this guy has incredible talent and maybe playing for Bangalore and RCB will make things easier for him because there, he is playing in front of his home audience and here AB, Chris and I are here and there. If KL can play a part, maybe he can grow in confidence. ,
"He doesn't have to be the focal point or that youngster who has to prove himself. It's about being part of this great team and showing what he can do. And the way he batted that season." That, for me, was a big change to see a player who was suddenly going to be this beast in six months. From there he moves on," he said.