KL Rahul had a great World Cup 2023, standing tall as an important middle-order batter for India. He was consistent as he scored 452 runs in 10 innings at a good average of 75.33. Yet, his knock in the final against Australia became a lightning rod for criticism. On a surface that tested the skills of every batsman, Rahul’s 66 off 107 balls wasn’t good enough for the more passionate Indian cricket fan who felt that he ought to have been more aggressive, more so in such an important game.
After India lost the final, Rahul’s inboxes were flooded with abuse on social media. He had always been able to ignore the online trolls, but on this occasion, negativity swamped him. During one such interaction with Nikhil Kamath on the latter’s YouTube channel, Rahul lowered his guard and spoke about the mistreatment he had to put up with.
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“I used to handle trolling well. I didn’t care, but that was when I was younger. A couple of years back, I started facing relentless trolling. Whether I sat or stood, I got trolled,” KL Rahul spoke candidly, showing how the constant negativity began to get to him.
His struggles only carried on with him getting dropped from the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup 2024, which had topped up the doubts surrounding his selection. Determined to prove his worth, Rahul worked at cementing his spot in the middle order, even batting in that role for Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2024.
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However, things did not go his way as the pitches had plenty to offer the bowlers at the Ekana Stadium, home ground of LSG. The need to play subduedly made Rahul a shadow of his confident self while Sanju Samson went hammer and tongs in Jaipur. Eventually, Sanju Samson played in the T20 World Cup. The moment Rishabh Pant started keeping wickets again, both Samson and Rahul continued to warm the benches and could not make it into the playing XI despite trying.
