Stylish India batter KL Rahul has called his return to Lucknow, his IPL home, as “bittersweet” and is looking forward to creating happy memories during the team’s ODI World Cup 2023 match against England on Sunday, nearly six months after his serious injury in last season of the cash-rich league.
Rahul, who is the captain of Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL, picked up the injury while chasing a ball to the boundary during an IPL 2023 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore in early May.
The 31-year-old Rahul missed four months of cricketing action due to injury. He missed the rest of the IPL, the World Test Championship final and a tour of the Caribbean before making a comeback during the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.
“I entered the ground today and I had to do some running. I told my trainer, Rajini sir [Rajinikanth Sivagnanam] that my heart is racing, because the last time I was here, I had not such a great experience, or not such a great moment in my career. It was a bit bittersweet,” Rahul told BCCI.tv.
“That injury had, obviously, a huge impact on me and my career. It wasn’t such a happy moment for me, or for my family. I’ve been through many injuries now in the little time that I’ve played for India. It’s not a great feeling for any athlete to keep getting injured so often and to go under the knife and to get surgeries is very, firstly, edifying – and, secondly, very painful,” he added.
According to Rahul, who has been in fine form during the ongoing ODI World Cup, is both physical and psychological.
“The most painful part is doing the rehab after that and trying to get fitter and stronger, and convincing yourself that it’s not going to happen again. It’s mentally very, very challenging. When it happened, it was obviously frustrating. I was very angry at what had happened and started questioning why and all of that,” he revealed.
“But I started seeing the best in what happened much later when I was in Bangalore, and realised that it came at a time when I really needed that break away from the game, because there was a lot going on with me mentally – and, for the first time in my career, I felt like I had no answers,” he added.
The right-hander is now looking at Sunday’s match as an opportunity to forget the past and create some happy memories at the venue. He called Ekana Stadium as very close to his heart after witnessing the support of LSG fans for the first time in IPL 2023.
“Obviously, I’m very happy to be back here in Lucknow and to change those memories and to make some new ones and some happy ones,” he said. “Obviously we play a very strong England team – they’re the champion team, the defending champions – so, looking forward to Sunday,” said Rahul.
“The turnout we saw from the crowd, the love, the support that we got in the last year was unreal. It’s the first time I really got to experience the Lucknow crowd or the support from the whole of UP [Uttar Pradesh] in full flow,” he concluded.