In the first Test being played between India and South Africa in Centurion, KL Rahul won the hearts of every fan by scoring a century. Team India could score only 245 runs in its first innings. Out of this, 101 runs were scored by Rahul alone. His innings have been praised by many former cricketers including the great batsman Sunil Gavaskar. He hit 14 fours and four sixes in his innings. Rahul also completed his century with a six.
Fans are also praising KL Rahul's innings on social media, but till a few months ago, when he was suffering from an injury and was out of Team India, he was being criticized a lot. Some fans had even put forth a demand on social media to expel him from the team forever. However, now Rahul has given a befitting reply to all these criticisms, first with the bat and then with the tongue. The next day, Rahul said in the press conference that the same people who are praising him today were abusing him till a few months ago.
Rahul was injured during IPL 2023. Even before that, he had been criticized. Sometimes about slow innings and strike rate and sometimes about his approach towards the game. However, Rahul never made any such statement. Former cricketer Venkatesh Prasad has repeatedly raised questions about Rahul's selection in his tweets. In March this year, he was removed from the post of Test vice-captain in the middle of the series against Australia.
After being injured for a long time and after a brilliant performance in ODIs, Rahul has got the new role of wicketkeeper batsman in the Test team. Earlier he was playing the role of opener in Tests. 31-year-old Rahul was sent to bat at number six in this test and he proved himself by scoring a century.
Taking a jibe at the critics, Rahul asked what would he gain from this century and despite this, he would again be a victim of trolls. He said, 'What will I gain from this? People will say whatever they want to say. If you are a public performer then performance is the only way to stay away from criticism. Rahul admitted that trolls on social media affected him a lot, but he never reacted to it.
Rahul said, 'Those who are praising me today were abusing me till a few months ago. If someone says that he is not bothered by abuse on social media, he is lying. Yes, it is true that the more you stay away from social media, the better it is for your mindset.
Rahul said- When you play international cricket, you are not only challenged as a player but you are also tested as a human being because you have an image in front of people. So when I was away from the game, I worked on myself from a human perspective. Some people helped me a lot. It is common to be trolled for poor performance, but it would be wrong to say that it does not have an impact. I'm trying to be who I am again. While away from the game during the injury, I worked on how not to be influenced by these criticisms and change myself. It's hard to stay true to yourself and your personality after so much has happened. This is the hardest thing.
Rahul said- You have your personality, personality traits, and characteristics. When you play international cricket they all get challenged. It affects every single player and anyone who says it doesn't affect them at all, I'm sure is lying. You can perform or be in a better mindset if you know what your limits are. No one is so great that he can completely escape what is being said and the criticism he is receiving.
What happened in the match?
After losing the toss and opting to bat first, the first innings of the Indian team was reduced to 245 runs in 67.4 overs on the second day. Captain Rohit scored five runs, Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 17 runs and Shubman Gill left after scoring two runs. The Indian team was in trouble after losing three wickets for 24 runs. In such a situation, Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli made the team out of trouble by making a half-century partnership. Virat was out after scoring 38 runs and Shreyas was out after scoring 31 runs. Ravichandran Ashwin contributed eight runs and Shardul Thakur contributed 24 runs. Jasprit Bumrah also returned to the pavilion after scoring one run.
However, Lokesh Rahul remained stuck at one end. He scored a century and took India to a respectable score. Rahul was out after scoring 101 runs in 137 balls with the help of 14 fours and four sixes. Apart from this, Siraj was out after scoring five runs. Kagiso Rabada has taken the maximum of five wickets for South Africa. Nandre Berger got three wickets, Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee got one wicket each. South Africa has scored 256 runs after losing five wickets in its first innings. He currently has a lead of 11 runs.
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