It'd be great to have Stokes in my IPL team: KL Rahul

Ben Stokes is currently part of the Rajasthan Royals squad. © BCCI

Kings XI Punjab opener - and one of the best performers for the side in the last two seasons - KL Rahul - talked up the 'impact' of Ben Stokes and wished to play in the same IPL side. The England all-rounder has been considered hot property in successive player auction - going for INR 14.50 crore to Rising Pune Supergiant and 12.50 crore to Rajasthan Royals in 2018 - and has scored 635 runs and picked up 26 wickets in the three seasons he has played in.

"He can bowl, he's a phenomenal fielder, yeah, he's played out there before and he's had a great impact on the teams he's played for. I hope he can play for my team, it'd be great to have him on my team," he said at a Red Bull event.

Rahul also revealed he and some of the India players were glued to the team manager's phone on which they watched the frenzy of the Headingley Test unfold, while they weren't on the field themselves in Antigua.

"It's funny because we were playing a Test match too in Antigua. But we were following the scores on the manager's phone as we're not really allowed to use phones during the game, just the manager kept checking for scores and we kept following ball by ball," Rahul said.

Rahul shared the sentiments of many who watched England emerge from the dead on Day 4, when Stokes defied Australia and did the unthinkable in the company of Jack Leach. "What he did was unbelievable. It will always remain the best Test match that was ever played. To play an innings like that is incredible. He's a phenomenal player and phenomenal athlete - you can watch that game over and over again," he said.

Rahul shares this level of admiration for a few more players he'd had to duel against across formats, as well as his own teammate Jasprit Bumrah.

"Pat Cummins who is the No.1 Test bowler right now, I found him very hard to face. Rashid Khan has always got the edge over me - he has my number a little bit. Nathan Lyon from Australia. All these guys and Bumrah of course. Facing him at training and a few games against him, he's a competitor, he doesn't give anything away," he said.

The top-order batsman gave further insight into Bumrah's talent and competitiveness, both of which he's seen from close quarters even before Bumrah made his international debut.

"He's a phenomenal talent and I've had the privilege and opportunity to play with him even before he had the opportunity to play for his country. We played on the same junior level team and he's always someone that's very determined and dedicated and very passionate about cricket, and he's someone you don't want to mess with because he bowls the ball at serious speeds and he's a competitor off the field even when we are playing against each other.

"There's no mercy for the guys who play for the country - he's always very competitive. The things that he's doing for the country right now are absolutely fantastic and I know he's only going to grow and get better," Rahul opined.