Kunal Rathore

Some Lesser Known Facts About Kunal Rathore

• Kunal Singh Rathore grew up in a middle-class family in Kota, Rajasthan.

  

• When he was 8 years old, he used to accompany his elder brother Dikshant to a cricket ground in Kota and soon, developed an interest in the sport.

• Initially, he used to play cricket with a plastic ball. He was so passionate about the sport that he often used to tie the ball with a door at his home and hit the ball with a bat. He used to practise cricket for long hours.

• After observing Kunal’s passion for cricket, his father enrolled him at a cricket academy in Kota.

• At the age of 10, he gave his first Under-14 trials but he was not selected.

• His father then took him to Jaipur, where he was enrolled at Sanskar Academy during the summer vacations. Kunal trained at the academy for a while and then went to GR Academy in Jaipur, where he was trained under Chandan Choudhary.

• At the age of 16, Kunal cleared all the three rounds of trials at the RCA in Jaipur. He also cleared the medical test.

• He then appeared for Under 16 Challenger trials but could not make it to the tournament due to his poor performance.

• Kunal then appeared for Under-19 trials and got selected for the Rajasthan Under-19 team when he was 17 years old. He did not perform well during the year and later, there were no matches for about a year due to Covid-19.

• In 2020, he played in the Under-19 championships for the Cooch Behar Trophy.

• Although he gave an ordinary performance in 2021, Kunal bagged an opportunity to play for India Under-19 team in the One-Day Challenger Trophy.

• He was also named as Standby in the Under-19 World Cup. However, he could not take the light to the West Indies due to some passport issues.

• In 2022, Kunal was called to attend the Emerging Under-23 National Cricket Academy camp, where he gave a great performance. His performance caught the eyes of the Rajasthan State Team selectors, who called him up for trials.

• He was the highest run-scorer in the Colvin Shield, Rajasthan State Senior Cricket tournament.

• On 11 October 2022, Kunal made his T20 debut or Rajasthan against Madhya Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021-2022 at Rajkot. He scored 147 runs at an average of 36.75 and a strike rate of 128.94 in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

• Kunal made his List A debut on 12 November 2022 against Assam at Kolkata.

• On 13 December 2022, Kunal made his First Class debut for Rajasthan against Goa at Porvorim.

• After noticing his performance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2021-2022, Dishant Yagnik, Rajasthan Royals’ fielding coach asked him to attend the trials. He did well in the trials and was picked in the auction for Rs. 20 Lakhs by the Rajasthan Royals for IPL season 2023, becoming the first cricketer from Kota, Rajasthan, to get an Indian Premier League contract.

• Soon, he went to the Rajasthan Royals Academy camp in Nagpur, where he trained under Zubin Bharucha, Director of High Performance at the Royals. However, Kunal did not get a chance to play a single match in the tournament.

• In the 2023-2024 Ranji Trophy, Kunal scored 245 runs, including his maiden first-class century against Manipur in Ahmedabad and affected 19 dismissals as a wicket-keeper.

• In the same year, he scored 250 runs at an average of 41.66 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and affected 24 dismissals, helping Rajasthan reach the finals.

• However, he couldn’t keep his form going and was left out after a few low scores in the 2024/25 Ranji Trophy.

• Kunal was retained by the Rajasthan Royals for Rs. 30 lakhs for the Indian Premier League season 2025.

• A fitness enthusiast, Kunal follows a strict workout regimen.

  

• He likes travelling and dancing in his leisure time.

  

• Kunal is represented by FairPlay Sports.

• He is an avid dog lover and has a pet dog named Rio.

  

• In an interview, Kunal revealed that if not a cricketer, he would have been a lawyer due to his excellent debating skills.