There are no better sights in contemporary cricket than to see KL Rahul in top gear. The senior pro of Indian cricket showed the fire still rages in the belly when he became only the third player – and first Indian – to hit 150-plus in the history of IPL on Saturday though it came in a losing cause.

It was a hot afternoon at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the capital which saw Rahul, now 34, turn up the heat again for Delhi Capitals in a season which has already seen him plunder 357 runs. A record target of 265 looked daunting by any stretch of imagination despite the favourable batting conditions, but Punjab Kings came up another evidence of their new found self belief when they overhauled it to prevail by six wickets with seven balls left.

The smaller boundaries, along with the belter of a wicket on offer provided a perfect stage for Rahul to unfurl strokes all round the wicket against a Punjab attack which looked clueless – 16 boundaries and nine sixes dotting his unbeaten 152 off 67 balls. However, the 'double trouble' of Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh made use of the conditions for a blistering powerplay, though it was eventually Shreyas Iyer's brutal assault of 71 (off 36 balls) which took them home.

The way individual landmarks and team totals are falling by the wayside in IPL, it won’t be long before the likes of a Abhishek Sharma or Priyansh Arya race to a 150-score. However as on date, it’s the highest individual score by an Indian in IPL history as Rahul surpassed Abhishek Sharma’s 141 (against Punjab Kings, 2025). Striking at over 200 throughout the 20 overs, Rahul completed his century off 47 balls - which marked just the third 150-plus score in IPL history after Chris Gayle’s 175 not out (RCB vs Pune Warriors, 2013) and Brendon McCullum’s 158 not out (KKR vs RCB, 2008). 

What’s more, it’s the first time in 13 years that a batter has scored 150-plus in IPL. ‘’There are mixed emotions about the innings,’’ said a visibly fatigued Rahul who worried about suffering from cramps. Dropped on 18 by Shashank Singh, Rahul made full use of the reprieve to forge a 220-run with local boy Nitish Rana (91) for the second wicket. It was second biggest stand for any wicket in IPL history behind 229 set by Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. ‘’It was satisfying to play cricketing shots and Rana was also in full flow,’’ Rahul said at innings break.

Highest individual scores in IPL
175* - Chris Gayle (RCB) vs PWI, Bengaluru, 2013
158* - Brendon McCullum (KKR) vs RCB, Bengaluru, 2008
152* - KL Rahul (DC) vs PBKS, Delhi, 2026
141 - Abhishek Sharma (SRH) vs PBKS, Hyderabad, 2025

Highest individual scores by an Indian (Men’s T20)
152* - KL Rahul vs PBKS, Delhi, 2026
151 - Tilak Varma vs Meghalaya, Rajkot, 2024
148 - Abhishek Sharma vs Bengal, Secunderabad, 2025
147 - Shreyas Iyer vs Sikkim, Indore, 2019
146* - Punit Bisht vs Mizoram, Chennai, 2021

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is relieved at the halfway mark of the Indian Super League 2026 (ISL) at being able to make ends meet on a ‘frugal budget’ – even as they try to finalise a commercial partner on a long term basis from the 2026-27 season. The entire domestic season, with the ISL and I-League as it’s showpiece products, had been staring at a bleak future at the end of last year after the Reliance-owned Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) did not renew their contract.

The difference between budgets of the double leg ISL till last year and the truncated league, now underway, is a study in contrast with the AIFF being forced to restrict the operating costs to a budget of Rs 25 crores this season. Genius Sports, the frontrunner to be AIFF commercial partner aspiring to step into the shoes of FSDL, has pitched in with an offer of Rs 63 crores per year – Fan Code lagging behind with a bid of Rs 36 cr.

Speaking to National Herald over phone, M. Satya Narayan, the AIFF Deputy Secretary General said the federation is relieved that they had been able to salvage the situation somewhat even that meant cutting corners.

‘’If there had been no leagues this year, thousands of footballers would have been unemployed along with the support staff, referees and those down the ecosystem. The only area where the quality could have been better is the broadcasting but we are confident of scaling up things by next season,’’ remarked the senior official, who had taken up a key role in firefighting for AIFF for the past year.

A London-based company which specialises on sports data, technology and are broadcast partners of a number of global products, including the English Premier League, Genius Sports gave a presentation to the 14 clubs on their long term vision of an association with the AIFF on Thursday. Out of their off of Rs 63 crores annually, Rs 50 cr has been earmarked as the operational cost for ISL while AIFF will receive the remaining Rs 13 cr.

A proposal which, according to some of the clubs involved in talks with AIFF and Genius, is ‘not satisfactory’ as they feel there is nothing in it for them. ‘’The AIFF is supposed to get the remaining Rs 13 cr but it has to be ploughed back on a number of heads like referees’ expenses, disciplinary committee and legal – which would entail a figure in the region of six crores. The clubs will certainly get a share of the pie over a period of time,’’ Satya Narayan said.

 An unheralded name in Indian sports fraternity, the AIFF describes Genius Sports as ‘’the official data, technology, and broadcast partner that powers the global sports and media ecosystem. Genius is the trusted partner to over 700 sports organisations, including many of the world’s largest leagues, teams, sportsbooks, brands and broadcasters, such as the NFL, English Premier League, NCAA, DraftKings, FanDuel, bet365, Coca-Cola, EA Sports, CBS, NBC and ESPN.’’

Even as the AIFF  is firefighting to zero in on a commercial partner, informed sources feel a number of former champion clubs want to see FSDL back at the helm. They feel that the FSDL has a much better understanding of the ‘ground realities’ of Indian football after being associated with it since 2010 – not to speak of the greater purse for the operations and clubs’ share. The Masters Rights Agreement (MRA) between them and AIFF expired last December and the FSDL have stayed away from fresh bids so far.

Asked about a possible return of FSDL, the AIFF Deputy Secretary General said: ‘’As on date, we have two entities who have bid for the commercial rights partnership. We all have seen how the first bid failed to attract a single bid and are now going ahead with what we have on the table. It is up to the Commercial Rights Partner to rope in others. However in AIFF, we are keen that the clubs and commercial partner along with AIFF, work towards making it a win-win for all stakeholders.''

Meanwhile, the ISL derby between reigning champions Mohun Bagan Super Giants and East Bengal is scheduled in Kolkata on 17 May.