The highly rated opening batsman of India’s next generation team, Kannanur Lokesh Rahul was born on 18 April 1992 in Mangalore, Karnataka. He played for Indian squad in the 2010 ICC Under-19 World Cup and now plays for Kings XI Punjab in IPL and Karnataka in the domestic circuit. He made his Test debut against Australia in December 2014, ODI and T20I debut against Zimbabwe in June 2016.

Some of his significant achievements:

• Became the first triple-centurion in first-class cricket for Karnataka after scoring 337 off 448 balls against Uttar Pradesh in the 2014–15 Ranji Trophy
• Emerged as the first Indian cricketer to score a century on his ODI debut in a match against Zimbabwe on 11th June 2016 at Harare Sports Club
• Holds a unique record for being the only batsman to hit a century in his first innings as an opener in both Tests and ODIs
• Broke the record of Sunil Narine by scoring the fastest 50 (off 14 balls) ever in the history of IPL; the feat he achieved in the first match of KXIP in IPL 2018