Indian cricketer and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) captain KL Rahul took to Twitter to thank the Karnataka Government for giving him the Ekalavya Award. The Mangalore native is currently in United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. Rahul wrote, "Thank You Government of Karnataka for bestowing me with the Ekalavya Award. It would not be possible without the support of my coaches, teammates, friends and families. I will continue to work hard to make our state and India proud #grateful".
The Ekalavya Award is given by the Karnataka state government for outstanding performance in sports.
Many fans replied to his tweet, hailing the cricketer. One fan wrote, "Congratulations !! Karnataka is proud of you Champ!"
Meanwhile, another said, "Many congratulations Rahul. Your batting style has been improved immensely. I personally loves your batting. Good luck for future."
Rahul's KXIP teammate Mayank Agarwal has also been conferred with the award. Agarwal is a native from Bangalore.
Punjab are knocked out of IPL 2020, failing to qualify for the playoffs. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) struck the blow on October 1, winning by nine wickets. KXIP finished the season at sixth place, grabbing 12 points from 14 matches. They won six fixtures and lost eight.
In their last five matches, they won three times and lost twice.
Despite Punjab's failure to qualify for the playoffs, Rahul and Agarwal put in dominating batting displays. Rahul scored 670 runs from 14 matches and currently leads the Purple Cap race. Meanwhile, Agarwal is seventh, scoring 424 runs from 11 games.