Wanted to be selfish and play for myself: KL Rahul

KL Rahul, the Indian batsman, revealed how the talk-show controversy in January 2019 helped him become a better cricketer going forward. The fiasco got him banned along with Hardik Pandya and their careers were in the doldrums. However, the Karnataka-born made a comeback in the home T20Is against Australia and went on to play in the 2019 World Cup as well.

The unwanted occurring early in the year tempted Rahul to think in a ‘selfish’ way. However, after he failed, the right-handed batsman changed his mind-set and thought about his game-plan, keeping in mind the priorities of the team.

We all know our careers are not too long: KL Rahul

“A lot of credit for my consistent performance goes to how differently I started thinking after 2019. With this suspension and with all that happened, I was tempted or I was in a way wanted to be selfish and play for myself, and I failed. So, I told myself I need to go out and do what the team wants me to do,” Rahul was quoted as saying to India Today.

In the World Cup, Rahul started, batting in the middle order. But after Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out, he opened along with Rohit Sharma and scored a century against Sri Lanka. Rahul realises that as cricketers, their time is limited and wishes to make optimum utilisation of his time and energy. Rahul also said that the approach took the pressure off him.

“We all know our careers are not too long and I realised after 2019 that I probably have a good 12 or 11 years left in me and I need to dedicate all my time and energy towards becoming a player and team man.

“That mind-shift really helped and took a lot of pressure off me when I started focusing on wanting to do better for the team and be a part of champion teams and make a difference in the game,” he added.

Rahul was one of the India’s key performers in the tour of New Zealand earlier this year. Due to his consistent performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the last two years, he has also been made the skipper of Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).