'It's not an option, just sign this contract' - KL Rahul shares story of how Virat Kohli asked him to sign for RCB

KL Rahul might be the captain of Lucknow Super Giants, a franchise which has been quite consistent since its inception in 2022, but a part of his heart still lies for his first Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

Rahul started his journey in the IPL at RCB after signing for the popular franchise ahead of the 2013 season. The wicketkeeper-batter revealed that Virat Kohli was the one who asked him to join the Royal Challengers after he had an excellent outing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In fact, Rahul said that Kohli didn't give him a choice and asked him to put pen to paper. The Karnataka batter mentioned that playing for RCB was always his dream.

"Virat was there (ITC Gardenia), coach Ray Jennings and other support staff were also there and Virat only said, 'Would you want to sign this contract and play for RCB?' I was like, 'Are you kidding? It was always my dream.' And then he said, 'I'm just kidding. It's not an option, just sign this contract.' I signed and Virat said 'It's gonna be a crazy ride. You're going to enjoy a lot in the next couple of months'," Rahul said in a video shared by Ravichandran Ashwin on his YouTube channel.

"The things that I learned (at RCB) in those two months, I mean the amount of time it would have taken me to be the player by playing just Ranji Trophy would have probably taken it 7-8 seasons. Those two months in the IPL, I gained so much knowledge and experience and everything was fast-forwarded," Rahul added.

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I would have liked to finish at RCB: KL Rahul

KL Rahul mostly played in the middle order for RCB during his tenure with the franchise. However, he couldn't secure a permanent spot in the XI and was eventually released after the 2016 season. The 32-year-old said that he would have loved to have spent his entire IPL career at the Bengaluru-based franchise. After being released by RCB, Rahul had stints with Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings before settling at Lucknow.

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"I would have also loved to play for Bangalore. I had started there, I would have liked to finish there and that was there in my head. But the beauty of IPL is that you get to go into different teams with different players," Rahul concluded.