"Sitting and watching the paint dry on the wall" - KL Rahul's cheeky comment on his batting after CSK vs DC IPL 2025 match [Watch]

KL Rahul came up with a cheeky reaction during his post-match interview with team mentor Kevin Pietersen following his match-winning knock for Delhi Capitals (DC) against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Chepauk on Saturday, April 5. The wicketkeeper-batter reminded the former England cricketer of using the phrase 'watching paint dry' for him in one of his past performances. The phrase is used for something "boring".

Notably, Rahul smashed 77 runs off 51 balls at a strike rate of 150.98, including three maximums and six boundaries against CSK to help DC post 183/6. This was his third fifty at the venue and 38th half-century in IPL. Later, the Capitals defended the total, winning the match by 25 runs to register a hat-trick of wins in their first three games.

Speaking to Pietersen in a video shared by IPL, KL Rahul said:

"It’s better than ‘watching paint dry on the wall’…that was your tweet about me one day."

The remarks came as Rahul revealed how he turned his game around after being criticized for his slow game for the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) last season. This was the same season he was axed for the 2024 T20 World Cup.

On this, KL Rahul said:

"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," Rahul added.

The Karnataka batter also lauded his teammates for their 30s and 20s to help the team put up a fight total, saying:

"Sometimes you don’t credit these quick 20 runs. Axar, Sam (Rizvi) and Abishek they all walked in and contributed runs. In the context of this game, those are huge and they took the pressure off me. Those partnerships really worked well for the team and that’s what we can build on."

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"I've worked a lot with him" - KL Rahul credits Abhishek Nayar for his white-ball turnaround

KL Rahul credited Team India's assistant coach Abhishek Nayar for his white-ball turnaround. The 32-year-old said in the same video:

"I've worked really hard on my white-ball game 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," he added.

KL Rahul’s strike rate(s) in the last 5 seasons

1. 2020 – 670 runs in 14 innings @135.39
2. 2021 – 626 runs in 13 innings @138.80
3. 2022 – 616 runs in 15 innings @135.38
4. 2023 – 274 runs in nine innings @113.22
5. 2024 – 520 runs in 14 innings @136.13
6. 2025 – 92 runs in two innings @164.29

KL Rahul will now be keen to continue his heroics with the bat as DC aim for their maiden IPL trophy.