Who said what - top 5 expert reactions to KL Rahul's superb 112* in DC vs GT IPL 2025 match ft. Suresh Raina

The cricket fraternity lauded Delhi Capitals (DC) batter KL Rahul for his stellar ton against Gujarat Titans (GT) in Match 60 of IPL 2025 on Sunday, May 18, in Delhi. Rahul's knock eventually came in a losing cause, but ensured the Capitals reached a formidable total.

After being invited to bat first, DC lost Faf du Plessis (5 off 10) early. However, Rahul adjusted to the surface and found his groove with his supreme timing and shot selections. He stitched a 90-run stand with Abishek Porel (30 off 19) to put the team in a healthy position.

Thereafter, Rahul and Axar Patel (25 off 16) put together a 45-run partnership to continue the team's momentum. In the end, Rahul (112* off 65) and Tristan Stubbs (21* off 10) remained unbeaten to help the Capitals post 199 on the board.

Thereafter, Sai Sudharsan (108* off 61) and Shubman Gill (93* off 53) continued their terrific consistency to seal the chase with an over to spare.

With this knock, KL Rahul became the fastest Indian to reach the milestone of 8,000 T20 runs. On that note, let's take a look at how the experts reacted to Rahul's blistering knock.

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#1 Tom Moody

During an interaction on ESPNcricinfo's Time Out, former Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach, Tom Moody hailed KL Rahul's knock as "extraordinary." He said:

"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. And the way I look at this innings, I think it's an outstanding innings. And yeah, look, it'll depend who wins the game to whether he's, you know, the Player of the Match or not." (8:00)

However, Moody feels if other batters had accelerated well along with Rahul, DC would have posted a bigger total.

"But the way I look at this and I look at the batting card, what's let them down and not reaching that 220 is the other batters that were in only struck at 150. On a [batting-friendly] surface, you want impact," he added.

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#2 Manoj Tiwary

Former Indian batter Manoj Tiwary appeared on Cricbuzz Live and lauded KL Rahul for his consistency in contributing at any batting position. Tiwary pointed out Rahul's intelligence to rotate the strike during tough overs, and then accelerated in fine fashion to lead DC to a fine total. He said:

"He was too good. I do not have enough words to explain when he manages to play such knocks. He is a player who can perform his role at any batting position. He started this season in the middle-order, and then came at No. 3. In this game, he opened for the side, and didn't got enough balls to free his arms initially. But, he didn't play any rash shots and understood the gravity of the situation. After getting settled, as we saw, he played some great shots." (0:02)

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#3 Amit Mishra

During the aforementioned interaction on Cricbuzz, former Indian spinner Amit Mishra shared his views on KL Rahul's knock. Mishra opined that Rahul is most suited for the opening slot, due to his success in this role for multiple teams. He said:

"He prefers batting at the opening slot. He started as an opener for the Indian team, opened for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL and also donned the role in the domestic circuit. Although he didn't fare well in the two or three years in between, but it's natural for any player." (1:48)

Mishra further felt Rahul looked like his original self during his knock against Titans, and also praised him for carrying the bat.

"Today's knock is exactly the way he bats. He takes some time to settle down, plays a couple of shots and infuses confidence in himself. Then, according to the pitch and gaps, he accelerates in the last 20-25 balls. The special thing was he opened and remained not out," he added.

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#4 Aakash Chopra

The former Indian batter-turned-commentator shared his thoughts on KL Rahul's century in a recent video on his YouTube channel. As per Chopra, Rahul was the only positive for the Capitals, and he felt it was the right call by the management to put him back at the opening slot. He said:

"KL Rahul is the only one worth talking about in this innings. He batted incredibly well. He got an opportunity to open for the second time. They make him open when someone is not there, but this time they decided that he only would open." (4:40)

Although, Chopra feels Rahul started slow, he praised him for ending his innings well and helping the side to reach a solid total.

"We discussed yesterday that he should be made to open. They got him to open, and he scored a century. He was playing slow at the start. He was going slightly ahead of a run-a-ball. It seemed like he would get them stuck, but he ended with a strike rate of more than 170, played 65 balls and scored more than 110 runs and took the team to a strong total," he added.

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#5 Suresh Raina

Serving as a commentator during the game, former Chennai Super Kings star, Suresh Raina expressed his happiness at KL Rahul's century. Raina made an interesting reference to Rahul enjoying his time more in Delhi than at his previous franchise, Lucknow Super Giants.

While lauding KL Rahul, Raina said:

"He is enjoying more in country's capital [Delhi] than in Uttar Pradesh's capital [Lucknow]. Incredible batting. Look at his body language after hitting a century, the respect in the dressing room for him. It shows how a big a player he is, his aura, look at the owner. If a player of his caliber came in the auction, Delhi had to buy him." (0:34)