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India's wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul oozed with class during his unbeaten 97-run knock in India's six-wicket win over Australia in their World Cup 2023 campaign opener in Chennai. Rahul had to hurry his way to the crease when India lost three wickets for just two runs. After the glorious knock, Rahul opened up about the "difficult time" when he was subjected to criticism by former cricketers, and Indian cricket team fans. He also talked about the time when an injury during the Indian Premier League (IPL) ruled him out of action for months and he was uncertain of his place in the World Cup squad.
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"There was a lot of criticism, people were commenting on my performance in every match and situation, and I wasn't able to understand why it was happening, because my performance wasn't that bad. So that was very painful I know the pain of going through an injury and the process of coming back initially, and then I had an injury during the IPL, and when I found out I'll be losing 4-5 months, being a part of the World Cup was also not a 100% sure so that was a very difficult time," Rahul said in an exclusive interaction with Star Sports on Follow the Blues.
During the injury layoff, Rahul's sole goal was to find a place in the World Cup squad. The thought motivated him to endure pain and win the race against time to get match fit.
"But all the years I have been playing for Indian cricket, in my short career I've undergone a lot of surgeries and also had a lot of injuries. So I know the pain of going through an injury and the process of coming back, and how hard it gets and when you've got to push, I already knew in my mind and understood the process. I was very positive as well and there was only one motivation that I had to come back before the World Cup, and I have to be a part of this home World Cup," Rahul added.
The 33-year-old said that he was desperately waiting for the World Cup on the home turf as it has been a dream for him for a long time.
"We were preparing for a lot of time keeping this in mind, and every morning I have been waking up thinking we need to win the World Cup, and that has been my only motivation. Every day in the morning, that's what got me out of bed and pushed me to do the boring work in the gym and that tells you how special it is to me and everybody, playing a home world cup is a dream for a cricketer and is special to all cricketers, so yeah I'm pretty excited," he further added.
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