Indian star batter KL Rahul opened up about the social media trolling when a player goes through a poor form. The 31-year-old was a hot topic of discussion across online media platforms since India’s loss in the 2022 T20 World Cup then followed his string of poor form in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023.
KL Rahul, who led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the ongoing Indian Premier League, injured his hamstring after he dived to stop a boundary during their game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, which eventually ruled him out of the IPL 2023 and WTC final against Australia. He was also seen as a potential option as wicketkeeper for India in the WTC 2023 final but is replaced by Ishan Kishan in the 15-man squad.
In an episode of “The Ranveer Show” podcast, former Indian vice-captain KL Rahul opened up about his experiences with trolling in the past year as he admitted that these kinds of online trolls affect him and other boys in the team when they do not perform and reckons that people should try to understand what a player goes through during that tough times.
“That’s something that sometimes affects me and affects a lot of the other boys as well that when we athletes truly need support, people feel they can or have the power to comment or say what they want. Just see what that person is going through,” KL Rahul said.
“None of us wants to perform badly. This is our life. This is all we do. Like I said, I don’t know anything else apart from cricket.”
Owing to his poor form, Rahul not only lost his spot in Test XI but also lost the vice-captaincy in Tests and ODIs, with Hardik Pandya replacing him as ODI deputy to Rohit Sharma. KL Rahul is prone to injuries as he dealt with numerous injuries in recent years and is expected to miss at least the next three months of cricket due to injury.
Team India has struggled with a spate of injuries in recent months, which include Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, and Prasidh Krishna, all of whom are expected to miss most of the 2023 cricket season.
Unfortunately, In Sports, There Is No Connection – KL Rahul
KL Rahul said that people are assuming that he is not serious about his game and not working hard on his game to return to form and reckons that in sports, things can go wrong even after putting in the hard yards as the results can go in either way.
“That’s the only thing I do. Why would anyone assume that I am not serious about my game or that I am not working hard enough? And unfortunately in sports, there is no connection. Like I said you can work hard, like I work hard but the result didn’t go my way,” KL Rahul added.
KL Rahul will miss out WTC final and it will interesting to see whether he can turn up for Men in Blue in Asia Cup 2023. India will take on Australia in the 2023 WTC Final at Kensington Oval on June 7, 2023, with a reserve day on June 12. Team India lost the inaugural edition of the WTC Final in 2021 against New Zealand at Southampton.