CRICKET
Sanjana Ganesan, a sports representative during the ICC marquee event, laughed when KL Rahul shared how much fun he had while keeping wickets.
India's wicket-keeper batsman, KL Rahul, has firmly established himself as a key finisher in the ODI format, thanks to his impressive performances in the Champions Trophy. Rahul showed remarkable consistency as India clinched the Champions Trophy title without losing a single match throughout the tournament. Although he primarily bats at the top of the order, Rahul faced stiff competition from Rishabh Pant for the wicket-keeper role. Nevertheless, his performances clearly validated the team management's choice to back him.
After the final match, Rahul was asked about his experience keeping wickets in the Champions Trophy, especially against India's spin quartet of Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel.
In an interview with Sanjana Ganesan, the wife of Indian cricket team's pace bowling star Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul admitted that keeping wickets was a challenging responsibility he had embraced.
"Not fun, Sanjana! I have had to squat 200-250 times when these spinners are bowling," Rahul responded when Sanjana asked how much 'fun' he had while keeping for India's spinners.
Rahul shared that nothing gives him a greater sense of achievement than winning the Champions Trophy title with the Indian team.
"I don't think there's a better feeling than this. I had said this in an interview a couple of months ago--that my entire focus from now on is to win as many titles as possible. God has put me in situations where I can win games for my team. I haven't always been able to do that, but that's the beauty of sport--you keep getting opportunities. If you stay humble, put your heart in the right place, train hard, and let your bat talk, God finds ways to bless you. That's all I can say. We work hard all year, throughout our careers, but moments like these are truly special." Rahul told Star Sports.