Team India star KL Rahul opened up about his initial stint with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), when he got a chance to share the same dressing room with Virat Kohli for the first time.
IPL 2013 was the first Indian Premier League season for KL Rahul, who joined RCB that season. The batsman only got a few matches to play, but he learned some invaluable lessons from some of the best players in the business.
It was a dream come true moment for KL Rahul
Upon joining RCB, Rahul, who was one of India’s best emerging players at the time, got to know more about AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Zaheer Khan and Virat Kohli, who were heroes for KL Rahul. It was a dream come true moment for him.
But what was the experience like when he met Kohli for the first time? A section of cricket fans describe this great batsman as an arrogant person. But is it true? Rahul said that when he entered the RCB dressing room for the first time, Kohli welcomed him warmly.
KL Rahul talks about Virat Kohli’s ‘arrogance’
“I think I was 21 years old. I think the IPL was really the first time I saw my heroes and people who had done amazing things in international cricket. “I played with Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli and Zaheer Khan – all of them were in the RCB team – and it was my first chance where I could really look at people and look at my heroes and say, ‘Okay, this is what they do, and this That’s what he has done to get here,” Rahul said during an interaction. YouTube channel ‘The Switch.’
He said, “Yeah, so with Virat, from the moment I met him, he was very welcoming and he never had any ego about being a superstar.”
Rahul also had to face some bitter truths
KL Rahul acknowledges the importance of the Indian Premier League as a platform for a young cricketer. He said he worked hard to get to the tournament, which may upset some other players. But Rahul was then a young man on a mission to ask AB de Villiers how to improve his performance.
“The IPL is a huge stage, the IPL is a huge opportunity, and yes, I didn’t want to miss it at all, so I did everything I could, almost to the point where I became a nuisance to a lot of players, and we were at after-parties and I was there talking cricket. AB, how can I get better at doing that? Yes, yes, I didn’t understand it initially and then some of my teammates had to tell me. He’s, like, ‘Look, boss, relax,'” Rahul said.
Meanwhile, during the IPL 2013 edition, Rahul played just five matches for RCB and scored 20 runs in two innings.
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