Published 19:18 IST, April 25th 2020
KL Rahul talks about 2019 World Cup semifinal loss; says 'it still haunts us'
KL Rahul said that he still gets nightmares of the heartbreaking 2019 World Cup semi-final loss against New Zealand at Manchester in July last year
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KL Rahul had an outstanding World Cup 2019 where he became an opener from a middle-order batsman after regular opener Shikhar Dhawan's tournament was cut short due to a thumb fracture. He played some stellar knocks which helped the Men In Blue reach the semis. However, he had an off day in the semi-final against New Zealand where India were reduced to 5/3 and eventually ended up losing the contest by 18 runs. Now, Rahul has come forward and revealed that most of the players of that squad including himself are yet to get over it.
'It has to be the World Cup semi-final': Rahul
"It has to be the World Cup semifinal. I think most of us are still not over that loss, it is still haunts us sometimes," he said.
"I can't imagine what the senior players must have felt but you know in a World Cup it just becomes even harder knowing that we played so well in the entire tournament. I still wake up to that nightmare sometimes", said KL Rahul during a recent chat show.
KL Rahul donates his 2019 World Cup bat
It has been learned that Rahul has decided to auction his World Cup 2019 bat and as per reports, all the proceeds from the auction will go to the ‘Aware Foundation’. Meanwhile, the opening batsman who had celebrated his 28th birthday recently went on to say that he has decided to donate his cricket pads, gloves, bats and some of his jerseys to their collaboration partner Bharat Army who will be auctioning them and the funds will go towards the Aware Foundation.
Speaking about the foundation, the make-shift wicket-keeper added that foundation that look towards helping children and he could not have chosen a better day apart from his birthday to come foward for this noble cause. Coming back to cricket, Rahul was all set to lead the 2014 finalists Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2020 which was supposed to get underway on March 29 but has now been indefinitely suspended due to the global pandemic.
(With PTI inputs)
(Image Courtesy: AP)
19:18 IST, April 25th 2020