IPL 2025: KL Rahul blessed with baby girl after missing DC's first match of the season

KL Rahul missed DC’s IPL 2025 opener against LSG.

On Monday, March 24, Indian wicket-keeper KL Rahul and his wife Athiya Shetty were blessed with a baby girl. The couple shared the good news on Instagram. Earlier, Rahul had missed Delhi Capitals’ (DC) opening game of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and travelled to Mumbai to be with his wife, Athiya, during her delivery.

The Indian wicket-keeper is expected to join the DC squad before their second match on March 30 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Visakhapatnam.

Rahul and his wife Athiya announced arrival of their first child via a post on Instagram, which read, “Blessed with a Baby Girl. 24.03.2025. Athiya & Rahul.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Athiya Shetty (@athiyashetty)

KL Rahul blessed with baby girl after missing DC’s first match of the season

Rahul’s absence means youngster Sameer Rizvi has been given an opportunity by captain Axar Patel in the middle order.

Electing to bowl first, DC made a comeback after initial fireworks from LSG’s Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran. Cruising at 161/2 in 13.3 overs, the visitors have now slipped to 177/6 after 16.4 overs on a batting-friendly pitch in Visakhapatnam.

LSG would look to post a total of more than 220 to maintain an upper hand in the game given that they carry a lot of inexperience in the bowling lineup featuring Prince Yadav, Digvesh Rathi and Shahbaz Ahmed.

DC vs LSG – Playing XI of both teams

DC: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel (w), Sameer Rizvi, Axar Patel (c), Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar.

LSG: Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Rishabh Pant(w/c), David Miller, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Rathi, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi.

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