KL Rahul’s Heartwarming Gesture Goes Viral After India’s Win Against New Zealand

Team India star batter KL Rahul has displayed his generous nature. Following the second ODI against New Zealand on Saturday, he gifted the smartphone he received as the ‘Game Changer of the Match’ award to a female official, earning widespread praise. The official, taken by surprise by this unexpected gesture, expressed her gratitude. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared a video of the incident on social media.

“KL Rahul gave me the phone he received as an award. I was quite surprised! He has a big heart; I truly never expected such a gift from him,” the official remarked in the video. The BCCI also lauded Rahul’s kind gesture, posting on X (formerly Twitter): “A great player… with an even greater heart. This is true ‘KL Class’.” Meanwhile, in the second ODI held in Wellington, India secured a victory by four runs via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method, as rain interrupted the match. With this win, India has taken a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

In this match, Indian bowler Gurnoor Brar delivered an outstanding performance, recording the best figures of his career by taking four wickets for 30 runs. Consequently, the New Zealand team was bowled out for 134 runs in 41 overs. Daryl Mitchell was the top scorer with 55 runs, while Aaqib Nabi and Anshul Kamboj claimed two wickets each. Chasing a modest target of 135, India faced early setbacks, finding themselves in trouble after losing four wickets for just 47 runs. At this juncture, Shreyas Iyer (30 runs) and KL Rahul (26* runs) steadied the innings and brought the team back into contention. However, New Zealand bowlers staged a comeback towards the end, restricting India to 113/7. Play was then halted due to rain; at that point, India was four runs ahead of the DLS par score, resulting in a victory for Team India.