New Delhi: Indian middle-order batter KL Rahul admitted that his suspension from Indian cricket team following a controversial episode in “Koffee With Karan” with Bollywood director Karan Johar and star all-rounder Hardik Pandya “scarred him massively.”
Both Rahul and Hardik were handed suspensions from the national team in 2019 and fined Rs2 million for their misogynist comments, before they could return to the team.
While Rahul and Hardik featured in the ICC Cricket World Cup that year and suspension did not last very long, it still had a bad effect on the wicket-keeper-batter. Rahul said he was a shy kid growing up and had never been suspended from school.
Speaking as quoted by Wisden on entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath’s YouTube Channel, Rahul said, “The [Koffee With Karan] interview was a different world altogether. That changed me. I was a very shy, soft-spoken boy growing up. And then I played for India, and for the next three-four years, I became very confident. I had no problem being with a huge group of people. People would know I have been in a room with 100 people, because I would talk to everyone.
“Now I do not, because the interview scarred me massively. Getting suspended from the team ... I have never been suspended in school, never been punished. It just never happened to know how to handle it,” he added.
Online trolling
The middle-order batter, often criticised for his performances and scoring rates, also opened up on receiving online trolling and hate on social media, saying that while he was initially good at facing them, he was subjected to a lot of online abuse later on even while not playing, which affected him.
“I used to be good with [handling] trolling,” he said. “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,” said Rahul.
Rahul’s last international appearance was during the ODI series against Sri Lanka, where he scored 31 runs in two innings.
Criticism
Despite a fine ICC Cricket World Cup last year, in which he scored 452 runs in 10 innings at an average of 75.33, with a century and two fifties, Rahul was panned for his knock of 66 in 107 balls during the final against Australia, which India lost by six wickets after failing to defend 241 runs against Australia.
In this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, Rahul also attracted some criticism for his strike rate despite finishing among top 10 run-getters, with 520 runs in 14 matches at an average of 37.14, with four fifties. His strike rate of 136.12, lower in comparison to veterans like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and younger stars like Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Rishabh Pant etc was a subject of trolling.
