India batsman KL Rahul on Saturday (April 25) confessed that the World Cup 2019 semi-final defeat against New Zealand was difficult to digest and it still haunts the team.
In the semi-final held at Old Trafford, Team India had suffered a heartbreaking 18-run loss while chasing Black Caps’ 240-run target.
India’s top-order fell like a pack of cards in that all-important clash. Although Ravindra Jadeja’s whirlwind knock (77 off 59 balls) brought the Men in Blue back in the contest, the task became tougher once he got out in the 48th over.
“It has to be the World Cup semi-final. I think most of us are still not over that loss, it is still haunts us sometimes. I can’t imagine what the senior players must have felt but you know in a World Cup it just becomes even harder and knowing that we played so well in the entire tournament. Yeah, so, you I still wake up to that nightmare sometimes!” Rahul, who managed to score only 1 run in the semi-final, told television presenter Suhail Chandhok in the fifth episode of ‘The Mind Behind’.
Just like any other sportsperson, Rahul is currently spending time at home amid COVID-19 pandemic. He was supposed to lead Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the 13th edition of Indian Premier League, but a nationwide lockdown due to the deadly outbreak forced the BCCI to suspend the cash-rich event indefinitely.
Talking about his lockdown routine, Rahul said: “Me and my family are in Bangalore. We’re all safe. I’m just trying to do whatever I can, in terms of training and keeping busy. I haven’t been or haven’t really got to a place where it’s annoying, I’m hanging in there! But yeah, it is it is quite nice to spend time at home and I remember when we kept playing (the team) for so long, all of us kept wanting a break, and now that we’ve got such a big break, we are like we don’t want such a big break.”
“I guess that’s what this time is teaching all of us; the important things in life, the importance of being healthy and spending time with family. I got to spend my birthday with my family after a long, long time, so that felt very special.”
During the conversation, KL Rahul also named one cricketer to bat for his life.
“I’ll go with Virat (Kohli) because I know, everybody knows he is a great player. We share a great friendship and he will give it all to save my life,” he said.
(With IANS inputs)
