ICC World Cup 2023: KL Rahul breaks shackles of doubts, arrives in style

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When he came into the Indian team, KL Rahul was called 'Destiny Child' and one who was born with a silver spoon. After a stupendous start, things went south for the Karnataka batter - lack of runs from the willow and injuries just compounded things for him.

In fact, six months ago, no one gave him a chance to do well at the highest level. The day he was injured while playing an IPL game, some of the fans actually heaved a sigh of relief that Rahul is out of his franchise for the rest of the tournament.

Some of them even stretched to a level where they predicted Lucknow Supergiants would do well without KL Rahul. However, the ones who are close to him had tremendous faith in his ability, including Indian coach Rahul Dravid.

Dravid, the former Indian captain, knew that if there was someone who could come and do considerable damage to the opposition bowling with his graceful temperament, it has to be KL. It came to such a pass that even some of the pundits of the game questioned Dravid's credentials as a reader of this game. But Dravid being Dravid knew that KL would be a special package and it has proved to be so.

KL Rahul, who got a wonderful pep-talk from Dravid after the Karan Johar show that led to his suspension, also knew that his time would come. Now that he has crossed those hurdles successfully, KL can look back with pride and feel blessed to have so much of a support when the chips were down.

One of the few of his endorsement deals which were up for renewal was his bat-maker Sanspareil Greenlands (SG). Not for a moment, there was any hesitation from SG not to sign 'KLR' for his emotional connection with the brand.

"I knew KL would do well because of sheer hard work. He is where he is today because of his discipline and focus," an elated SG owner Paras Anand said.

Being in and out of the team isn't easy. KL has gone through all of it. There was also a theory that KL Rahul isn't able to bat freely in presence of legends like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Apparently, he was overawed by their aura on the field.

But that is also taken care of. KL Rahul isn't afraid to be himself and plays quite freely these days with legends like Kohli and Rohit. His recent partnerships with Kohli suggest that KL has actually arrived and how!