Indian wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul's heroic innings took center stage in India's resounding six-wicket win over Australia in their opening game at the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in Chennai on Friday (October 8).
Facing a challenging 200-run chase and an early setback with India at 2/3 in just two overs, Rahul displayed nerves of steel and joined hands with Virat Kohli to help the Men in Blue kick off their Cricket World Cup 2023 campaign on a winning note.
Rahul played a stunning knock of unbeaten 97 while Kohli made brilliant 85 runs, and they together added 165 runs to make sure India got over the line against the Australians in Chennai.
After the match, Rahul opened up about the criticism he faced for his not-so-good performances and how it had an impact on him. The right-hander also recalled the painful time when he was sidelined due to a thigh injury and then surgery, which jeopardized his 2023 World Cup dreams.
KL Rahul said on Star Sports show Follow the Blues: “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.”
He added, “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. 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.”
Rahul signed off by saying, “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.”
(With India Today/PTI Inputs)
