IPL 2025: KL Rahul credits Abhishek Nayar for regaining the fun of playing white-ball cricket

On a dry pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Rahul opened the batting in the absence of an unfit Faf du Plessis and was at 25 off 20 balls, before flicking a switch to hit 36 off his next 18 balls and make 77 off 51 balls.

His superb knock, laced with six fours and three sixes, including taking down CSK's strike bowler Noor Ahamd meant DC made 183/6, which was enough to get them a win in Chennai after 15 years and maintain their unbeaten run in the competition.

"I've worked really hard on my white-ball game in the last year or so. Big shoutout to Abhishek Nayar. I've worked a lot with him ever since he's come into the Indian team. We've spent hours and hours together talking about my white-ball game and how I can be better.

"We worked hours and hours together in Bombay and somewhere I have found the fun playing white-ball cricket," said Rahul to DC mentor Kevin Pietersen in a video chat on iplt20.com on Sunday.

Rahul had missed DC's first game due to paternity leave and on return against Sunrisers Hyderabad, he hit an aggressive five-ball 15 before unleashing a knock in the same vein and on a larger scale against CSK.

"Knowing that the opposition struggled as much as I did in the middle and they couldn't get over the line and get the victory, so it feels good now. But in the middle, I felt I left 15-20 runs at the back end. At the halfway stage when we had the chat and I remember telling you that I'm going to look to hit my pockets.

"I was still in, and I think I had good intent. I was still looking to score boundaries but just wasn't timing the ball too well. A little bit of a break really helped me. The minute I went back on, I got one in the middle, hit the ball in the gap and I got going after that," added Rahul.

Rahul had come into the competition after shining brightly as India's designated finisher in the victorious 2025 Champions Trophy campaign, where he scored 140 runs at a strike rate of 97.90 and remained unbeaten thrice.

Rahul also talked about his new approach to playing white-ball cricket from the realisation that he has to adapt to the modern way of being relevant in the game.

"I think somewhere along the way I lost that fun of hitting boundaries and hitting sixes. I wanted to take the game deep, deep, deep and that somehow stuck in my head. But now I have realised I need to go back. Cricket's changed, and T20 cricket, especially, is only about hitting boundaries.

"The team that hits more boundaries and sixes ends up winning the game. So back to enjoying my cricket. I am not thinking too much about the game, not thinking about taking it deep or none of that stuff. Just see (the) ball and try and be aggressive and put the pressure on the bowler and the opposition and just enjoy hitting boundaries," he concluded.