Mumbai: Indian cricketer KL Rahul made an appearance on Ranveer Allahbadia’s podcast, ‘The Ranveer Show’. While talking about his journey as a cricketer on the show, he also mentioned how he never had a mentor and a cricket figure from his hometown to look up to while growing up.
In the episode, Ranveer asked KL Rahul about what it was like for a cricketer in his 20s to grow in front of the world?
In his response, the cricketer emphasised how having a mentor or someone to look up to who has previously gone through the trip might be beneficial. Someone who will share his experience, as well as the do’s and dont’s of dealing with pressure, and so on.
KL Rahul, who grew up in a small town in Mangalore where he had no sporting hero’s to look up to and ending up becoming one of the few three format players, said: “If you’re lucky you will have mentors who’ll guide you from a really young age like when you’re 17 and 18. They will prepare you for when you become an international cricketer, when you start getting exposed to pressure of international level or the IPL level.”
When KL was asked who was his mentor he replied “I didn’t, I had to learn it myself. For most of the cricketers I think, you have to learn it on your own.”
KL also mentioned that he did have some senior players who he looked up to, one of them being Rahul Dravid.
He said: “I grew up watching him play and when I was under 17, I had the opportunity to train with him and when I was 20, I had the opportunity to play with him and share the dressing room with him.”
He further continued saying how the two connected and how he got to understand his game.
Asked what he likes to do apart from cricket, he mentioned “It made me think like there’s not much, I haven’t done anything. Since I was 11 years old, I’ve been playing cricket.”
“I finished school and college, I just got through it. Those are the years you develop any other hobbies or habits right, I didn’t have the time for that, I was only playing cricket and going home and I’d only go back and write my exams.”
To make up for this, he now likes to detach himself and learn a new hobby or tries to find what makes him happy apart from cricket.
