In the age of social media, there isn’t a prominent international cricketer who has not been subjected to online abuse. The trolls have targetted players for their performances on the field and KL Rahul is no stranger to it. When Rahul went through a bad patch, he was on the receiving end of widespread criticism on social media which even turned distasteful. After scoring a century in Centurion on Day 2 to help India post 245 despite a batting collapse, Rahul was asked whether he feels the urge to answer the incessant trolling.
“Logon ko jo bolna hoga bolenge (People will say what they want to). If you are a public performer, performance is your only yardstick to stay away from criticism.
And about social media, the farther you stay away from it, the happier you will be,” Rahul replied in a composed manner, similar to how he replied to Marco Jansen’s sledging on Day 1.
Rahul earned praise from legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar who termed it as among the top 10 centuries by an Indian batter in last 50 years.
“If he (Gavaskar) has said that, it's a huge compliment,” Rahul said while acknowledging Gavaskar’s praise.
Rahul said that staying away from the game due to an injury he picked up during Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 helped him work on his personality.
“When you play international cricket, you are not only challenged as a player but also as a person because you have a personality.
So, when I was away from the game, I worked on myself as a person. Obviously, there were people to help me,” he said.
Rahul went on to say that social media comments are fickle and trolls turn into fans and vice versa very often.
“One who is hailing me today was abusing me some months back.
Anyone who says he isn't affected by comments on social media is lying. But the more you stay away, the better it is for your mindset,” the 31-year-old said.
Rahul felt that the Centurion surface got better to bat on Day 2.
“Today in the morning, when we’d batted for those 7-8 overs, I felt the wicket had eased a bit. But it can change here quickly with cracks opening out.”
Rahul went on to say that the Centurion wicket is such that a batter can never feel settled. He also feels that one can’t plan his innings while batting in the middle order as the match situation dictates lead to a change in approach.
“You can't plan that much. There's a game situation that tells you how to play in that time and moment. You have to remain free and empty. You need to be aware that you might have to bat with tail,” he said.
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