Indian cricketer KL Rahul has recently opened up about how he was troubled by trolls from fans last year. Despite his best efforts to ignore the outside noise, it still affected him. The Indian wicketkeeper-batter has been an important player for the Men in Blue in the ongoing ODI World Cup on home soil.
KL Rahul, who faced a lot of criticism for his performances, became a soft target for fans and former cricketers over his poor show in International cricket and IPL. There were even calls to remove him from the team.
However, since returning from an injury, KL Rahul has been in red-hot form in the 50-over format. He has changed the dynamics of the Indian middle order alongside Virat Kohli and given fans a sense of security with his impressive batting.
Speaking to the media ahead of the game against defending champions England, KL Rahul acknowledged that his bad form in the game was influenced by background noise and said that he dedicated a lot of his off-game time to improving his mental game.
“I tried to address outside noise for a long time, I thought it wouldn’t affect me, but in the last year or so it started affecting me. And then I realised that I would have to work on it.
“And when I got time, outside of the game, I tried to work on that side – mentally you got to get a lot stronger, more thick-skinned. So yeah, so that really helped me being away from the game,” KL Rahul said.
In the Asia Cup, Rahul was magnificent with the bat, and he has carried that form into the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023. He has batted brilliantly in the middle order and won the game against Australia in Chennai. The right-handed has thrived under pressure and will be a crucial player for the Indian team going forward.
Hardik Pandya Does A Very Important Role For The Team – KL Rahul
KL Rahul has acknowledged the significance of all-rounder Hardik Pandya in the Indian team’s white-ball format. He believes that Pandya’s absence in the upcoming match against England in Lucknow could be a crucial miss.
However, this has opened up an opportunity for Suryakumar Yadav to take his place in the team and asserted Yadav gained more confidence in his batting for the mega event.
“Hardik has been a very important member of the team and he has been there and he does a very important role for the team. So not having him is also a bit of a miss for the team. But it’s unfortunate what happened,” he stated.
“We also at some point have to look at the now and the present is that he is not available for this game. Surya will probably get his chance and we know what Surya can do. So, our confidence is in Surya till Hardik comes back,” KL Rahul added.
The Indian team management and Rohit Sharma are reconsidering their strategy for the World Cup campaign after learning that Hardik Pandya is uncertain for the remaining matches and the Men in Blue will be hopeful of having the Indian all-rounder fit for the important knockout games of the marquee event.
