"Last few months haven't been great for me on the field" - KL Rahul opens up on criticism during lean patch
Team India batter KL Rahul recently opened up about how he had to deal with a lot of negativity during his rough patch, considering that a number of people trolled and lambasted him.
Rahul also expressed his gratitude to the people who stood by him during the difficult period. The wicketkeeper-batter mentioned that he received a lot of encouraging messages, which shows that he has had an impact on people.
The 31-year-old made these remarks during an appearance on 'The Ranveer Show'. He explained:
"I know the last few months haven't been great for me on the field, and the kind of support and the messages that I have gotten tell you that you have done something right in your life, not just as a cricketer but as a person. That's when you know that you have had a good impact on people."
"When you are really struggling, when your back is against the wall, and there's so much hate and negativity that you are getting even during those times," Rahul added. "It is just so easy in the modern-day, when you see negative comments, when you see someone is down, a few people pick on it and all of them want to jump on that train and just make that person (feel) worse than he is already feeling."
KL Rahul had been under the scanner following a string of poor performances earlier this year.
He had a chance of roaring back to form in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023). However, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain was ruled out of the season after he injured his thigh during one of the team's league matches against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
He further stated that while growing up, his primary focus was to do well in cricket. Rahul suggested that because of this approach, he wasn't able to make a lot of friends in school or develop any other interests apart from the sport.
The right-handed batter pointed out that he now tries to detach himself from the game from time to time, elaborating:
"Someone asked me the other day, 'What do you like doing apart from cricket?'. It made me think that there's not much because I haven't done anything since I was 11 years old, I've been playing cricket. I didn't go to school a lot. I did get through it, but I didn't attend classes or I didn't make a lot of friends. Those are the years when you develop other hobbies or habits."
"I didn't have time for that, I was only playing cricket," he added. "As you grow up, you realize that you look back, and there's nothing else to fall back on. There's nothing else for you to do. For me, right now, it's like, how do I detach myself, also learn a new hobby, or what makes me happy apart from playing cricket and training."
Rahul scored 217 runs in nine innings in IPL 2023 at an average of 34.25. It is worth mentioning that following the injury, he was also ruled out of the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final.
"I was just bank" - KL Rahul recalls his maiden Test century
KL Rahul made his Test debut for India in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia in Melbourne in 2014. While he failed to score substantially in that contest, the Karnataka-born batter hit a fantastic century in the ensuring Sydney Test.
Speaking about his first-ever Test ton, Rahul stated that he blanked out the moment he reached the three-figure mark. He noted that he, on several occasions, imagined how he would celebrate after reaching the magical figure.
He, however, admitted that when the moment finally arrived, he didn't know what to do and was completely blank, adding:
"I was blank. I just took off my helmet. I've played this in my head so many times as a child growing up wanting to play for your country and you've gotten this chance. I had a horrible first game and then the next game, I got that hundred. I know I'm prepared for this, like I've played this in my head that, 'Oh! When I get a hundred, this is going to be my celebration'."
"But when it actually happened, I was just blank. I knew I got a hundred, but there was so much running through me, I just blanked out at that moment," he continued. "Virat was there at the other end when I got the hundred. I just hugged him and tried to take it all in, but it was just happening so fast."
Notably, Rahul scored 110 runs off 262 deliveries in the first innings of the Sydney Test against Australia. The match eventually ended in a draw after the home side produced a brilliant performance with the bat.
Incidentally, he was left out of the Test side after a string of below-par scores in the first two Tests against Australia earlier this year. Rahul was eventually replaced by Shubman Gill, who smashed a fine hundred in the fourth Test in Ahmedabad to cement his place in the playing XI.