IPL 2022: KL Rahul scores 50th T20 fifty, joins Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in elite list

Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul became the fifth Indian cricketer to score fifty half centuries in T20 cricket during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 encounter against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday. It was a steady knock from the opener as he brought up his fifty in just 40 deliveries.

Thanks to the half century, Rahul joined an elite list headed by Virat Kohli who has scored 76 fifties and India skipper Rohit Sharma who has 69 fifties to his name. The other two cricketers in the list are Shikhar Dhawan with 63 fifties and former Chennai Super Kings batsman Suresh Raina with 53 fifties.

This was also Rahul’s 28^th IPL fifty and he is currently tied with Kolkata Knight Riders opener Ajinkya Rahane as ninth in the list of cricketers with the most half centuries in the tournament.

Rahul started his IPL career with Royal Challengers Bangalore and although he had a good outing in 2016, he was released by the franchise. He moved to Punjab Kings and even led the side in 2019 and 2020 – two seasons which saw consistent performances from the cricketer with the bat.

Ahead of the IPL 2022 season, Rahul parted ways with the Punjab franchise and was retained by Lucknow Super Giants ahead of the mega auction for a mammoth INR 17 crore. The Karnataka cricketer did not start the tournament well as he was caught on the first ball against Gujarat Titans but he came back strong with a well-played 40 against the defending champions Chennai Super Kings.