"If I sat, I got trolled, if I stood, I got trolled" - KL Rahul opens up on being subjected to a lot of online abuse
Team India batter KL Rahul has opened up on being subjected to plenty of online abuse and trolling in recent times. While stating that he was good at handling trolling when he was young, the 32-year-old admitted that the barrage of hate has, at times, affected him.
Having made his international debut back in December 2014, Rahul is one of the experienced members of the Indian team and has even been given leadership responsibilities in the past. However, his skills have often been questioned by so-called Indian cricket fans online, who have many a times launched cruel verbal attacks on the right-handed batter.
Speaking on entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath's YouTube channel, Rahul shared his candid thoughts on being trolled and facing social media abuse. He said (as quoted by ANI):
"I used to be good with [handling] trolling. I did not care, but I feel I was much younger back then. And then, a couple of years back, I was exposed to a lot of trolling. If I sat, I got trolled, if I stood, I got trolled."
Rahul was part of the Indian team that lost the ODI series in Sri Lanka played at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo earlier this month. While the first match was tied, the Men in Blue lost the next two games by 32 runs and 110 runs, respectively. The keeper-batter played the first two matches, scoring 31 and 0, respectively. He was dropped for the third match of the one-day series.
A glance at KL Rahul's recent performances in international cricket
Before the ODI tour of Sri Lanka, Rahul featured in the first Test of the five-match series against England. In the opening game of the series in Hyderabad, he contributed 86 and 22 even as India lost the match by 28 runs. The hosts recovered to win the next four games, but Rahul missed the matches due to injury.
The experienced batter was also part of the Indian team that finished runners-up in the 2023 ODI World Cup at home. He scored 452 runs in 10 innings at an average of 75.33, with one hundred and two fifties. The cricketer, though, was criticized for his 66 off 107 balls in the final against Australia, which India lost by six wickets after putting up only 240 on the board.
Rahul was also not picked for the 2024 T20 World Cup. He was dropped from the T20 squad following India's 10-wicket loss to England in Adelaide in the semifinal of the 2022 edition and has not been recalled since.