The upcoming edition of the <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/ipl-2026-aakash-chopra-picks-top-contenders-for-orange-cap-ahead-of-season-23622940" rel="nofollow">Indian Premier League</a> (IPL) is all set to kick off from March 28.
Ahead of the league, former Team India cricketer Irfan Pathan heaped praise on KL Rahul by saying that he is undoubtedly one of the best players in the tournament.
"KL Rahul is the safest bank to score 500 runs every season. He will always score runs and is capable of giving good starts consistently. He is undoubtedly one of the best players in this league. It is just that we sometimes talk about his strike rate, but as long as you win the match, you do not need to focus much on that," he said on his YouTube channel.
The former cricketer then backed Prithvi Shaw and said that the right-handed batsman will come to prove a point. He also said that despite not scoring runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Shaw seems to be in a good form.
"They got him at a very good price. He shifted to Maharashtra from Mumbai in domestic cricket. He was the highest run-scorer for Maharashtra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Yes, he did not score in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, but he seems to be in good form. I think those hungry players who went unsold last year always come with a point to prove. <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/ipl-2026-delhi-capitals-prithvi-shaw-aims-at-making-comeback-to-team-india-23622745" rel="nofollow">Prithvi Shaw</a> will come to prove a point," said Pathan.
"The hungry players who have gotten dropped are very excited, but along with that, they also put a lot of pressure on themselves to perform. This pressure always leads you towards failure. They have the option of Abhishek Porel, who has performed really well whenever he has gotten chances. He has contributed with quick 20s and 30s so far. But I think they should go with Prithvi Shaw and give him clarity about his role," he added.
DC will begin the IPL 2026 campaign by playing their first match against <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/ipl-2026-lucknow-super-giants-owner-sanjiv-goenka-wants-his-team-to-win-title-to-receive-respect-23622582" rel="nofollow">Lucknow Super Giants</a> (LSG) on April 1 at the Ekana Cricket Stadium B Ground in Lucknow.
<h2>IPL 2026, Lucknow Super Giants vs Delhi Capitals: Full Squads</h2>
Lucknow Super Giants: Mitchell Marsh, Mohammed Shami, Shahbaz Ahmed, Anrich Nortje, Nicholas Pooran (WK), Aiden Markram, Avesh Khan, Wanindu Hasaranga, Himmar Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Rishabh Pant (C) (WK), Josh Inglis (WK), M Siddharth, Moshin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Arjun Tendulkar, Akash Singh, Abdul Samad, Arshin Kulkarni, Naman Tiwari, Akshat Raghuvanshi, Mayank Yadav, M Choudhary (WK), Prince Yadav, Digvesh Rathi.
Delhi Capitals: David Miller, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, KL Rahul (WK), Karun Nair, Axar Patel (C), Ben Duckett (WK), Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Rana, Kyle Jamieson, Lungi Ngidi, T. Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Pathum Nissanka, Ajay Mandal, Prithvi Shaw, Ashutosh Sharma, Auqib Nabi, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, Abhishek Porel (WK), Vipraj Nigam, Tripurana Vijay, Sahil Parakh, Madhav Tiwari.
(With ANI Inputs)

DC will begin the IPL 2026 campaign by playing their first match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 1 at the Ekana Cricket Stadium B Ground in Lucknow

IPL 2026 | 'KL Rahul is the safest bank to score 500 runs every season...': Irfan Pathan

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IPL 2026 | 'KL Rahul is the safest bank to score 500 runs every season...': Irfan Pathan

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