KL Rahul, an Indian cricketer, has been under scrutiny because of his running rate and overall match performance. Rahani revealed that he’s been a victim of cyber-bullying and hatred on social media platforms. The wicketkeeper-batter explained that at first he handled them very well but later on suffered from a lot of online trolling even when he was not playing cricket which really hurt him. Microsoft (Nikhil Kamath) had asked him about how he copes with trolls and online hate that always follow him around. I took it lightly in those times but I was much younger then,” said Rahul during his conversation with entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath on YouTube.
In his last international match Rahul played against Sri Lanka in ODI series where he could make only 31 runs out of two innings. KL had an impressive ICC Cricket World Cup a year ago scoring 452 runs in 10 matches at an average of 75.33 including 1 century and 2 half-centuries; however, everybody scolded him for hitting 66 runs off 107 balls in final against Australia lost by 6 wickets because India could not defend 241 runs against them.
In the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL), Rahul also faced some criticism for his strike rate even though he was one of the top 10 run-getters with 520 runs in 14 matches with an average of 37.14 including four fifties. His strike rate of 136.12 would compare unfavorably with that of aged players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli or young stars like Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Rishabh Pant among others which became target for trolling at times.
Back in 2019, both Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul had been suspended from the national team before they could return after being fined ₹20 lakh for misogynist comments made by Hardik on ‘Koffee With Karan.’
KL Rahul & Hardik Pandya were part of the ICC Cricket World Cup that year but their suspension didn’t last too long; however it affected KL badly who claimed he had “never been suspended back in school”.
