As the Indian cricket team prepares for the Cricket World Cup 2023 against England at Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday, KL Rahul was reminded of some bitter memories from the venue. It was this ground where he injured himself during the Indian Premier League and ended up spending months on the sidelines. Ahead of the team's big test against England, Rahul admitted that he wants to move on from those bitter memories but people keep reminding him of what happened when the last time he was in Lucknow.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Rahul said that he was sad that he couldn't finish the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season with the Lucknow-based franchise.
"Yes, I am a little sad about that, but the injury that I had, kept me out of the game for 4-5 months. That was a tough time. Whoever has an injury, if you ask anyone - they undergo surgery and to come back, it takes a lot of hard work, and a lot of patience and you have to go through that which is not very easy. In cricket, whatever ups and downs happen, sometimes you score 100, sometimes you don't, that success or failure you can handle but this painful time that is there, doing physio and coming back into cricket. That was tough," Rahul said.
While talking about the injury he suffered in Lucknow during the IPL 2023 season, Rahul said that when he came to the ground with the Indian squad, all his memories of falling down and injuring himself came again.
"I can't say that it is not in my mind. Yesterday when I came to the ground, my last memory of this ground was - falling down and injuring myself. "Mai bhoolna chahta hoon magar log bhoolne nahi dete (I want to forget it but people keep reminding me). Hopefully, I can put that aside and I can make some better and happier memories to forget all of that," he added.
Rahul, who also captains Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the IPL, sustained an injury in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on May 1. Chasing a ball in the outfield in the second over, he clutched it at his thigh and then limped off the field.
However, the batter made a stunning comeback in the International circuit with a knock of 111 runs against arch-rival Pakistan in the Asia Cup.
When asked about India winning all five games chasing in the ongoing World Cup, Rahul stated that once 'Men in Blue' lost the toss and ended up bowling first.
While talking about his recovery session, he said that the difficult part would be wicket-keeping more than the batting. Rahul said that he has worked much harder on his fitness and wicketkeeping.
"During the process of getting fitter as well, I did focus a lot on wicketkeeping along with my batting. The medical team at the NCA felt like - with the kind of injury I had, the difficult part would be wicket-keeping more than the batting. The things that I've worked much harder on are my fitness and my wicketkeeping. Then came batting so it was in that order. So, I did work a lot on my wicket-keeping there and yeah, even when I've come back here, I've spent a lot of time wicket-keeping. I feel like that requires a bit more time and effort from my side," he added.
With ANI inputs