“Muskuraiye, Aap Lucknow Mein Hai”: KL Rahul wants to change bitter IPL memories to happy ones in Ekana Stadium

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 28 (ANI): India’s star player KL Rahul is back on a ground – Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow – that has given him life lessons and bittersweet memories and the wicketkeeper-batter wants to make memories that he’ll remember only for good as India takes on England in the ICC World Cup 2023 on Sunday.

In a video posted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on bcci.tv, Rahul opened up on the personal and emotional difficult process of recovering from injuries, the mental challenges he experienced, and his excitement for the forthcoming match against the English squad.

“I’m at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, my home ground when I play in the IPL for the Lucknow Super Giants. It’s a ground that’s very close to my heart. The last year that we played here, the turnout we saw from the crowd, the love, and the support that we got last year was unreal. And it’s the first time I really got to experience, um, the Lucknow crowd or the support from the whole of UP in full flow. I entered the ground today and I had to do some running,” KL Rahul on Saturday said in a video posted by BCCI.

KL Rahul expressed both excitement and apprehension about playing in the World Cup 2023 match in Lucknow. The Karnataka-born cricketer has a strong record on his IPL home field. KL Rahul has appeared in six matches and scored 211 runs across all formats. He has a 52.75 average and two fifties.

“I entered the ground today and I had to do some running and I told my trainer Rajini sir that my heart was racing because the last time I was here I did not have a great experience or not such a great moment in my career. So yeah, it was bittersweet. Also, obviously, the ones that happen at the very end tend to stick with us for a lot longer and have a bigger impact on us. That injury had obviously left a huge impact on me and my career, so was not such a happy moment for me, or for my family,” he added.

Rahul, who also captains Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League (IPL), sustained an injury in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on May 1. Chasing a ball in the outfield in the second over, he clutched it at his thigh and then limped off the field. However, the batter made a stunning comeback in the International circuit with a knock of 111 runs against arch-rival Pakistan in the Asia Cup.

“I have been through many injuries now in the little time that I played for india and it’s not a great feeling for any athlete to keep getting injured so often and to go under the knife and get surgery. The experience is very terrifying and secondly very painful. The process of getting surgery done but also the most painful part is doing the rehab after that and trying to get fitter and convincing yourself that it’s not going to happen again,” said the Indi batter.

“It’s mentally very challenging. So when it happened, it was obviously frustrating. I was very angry at what had happened and started questioning. But I started seeing the best in what happened much later when i was in Bangalore and realized that it came at a time when I really needed that break away from the game because there lot going on with me mentally,” he added.

Rahul sees the match against England as a chance to transform his IPL narrative and engrave delighted memories. Rahul has provided the country with much-needed balance in the ongoing 50-over tournament.

“Secondly, very painful. The process of, you know, getting surgery done. But also the most painful part is doing the rehab after that and trying to get fitter and stronger and convincing yourself that it is not going to happen again. You know it, It’s mentally very, very challenging. So, um yeah, when it happened, it was, you know, um, I was obviously frustrated, was very angry at at at what had happened and started questioning why and all of that,” India wicketkeeper-batter said.

“But I started seeing the best in what happened much later when I was in Bangalore and realized that it came at a time when I really needed that break away from the game because there’s a lot going on with me mentally and for the first time in my career, I felt like I had no answers. Obviously very happy to be back here in Lucknow and to change those memories and to make some new ones and some happy ones. And, uh, yeah, obviously we play, um, a very strong England team. They are the champion team. They’re the defending champion. So they’re looking forward to Sunday. Muskuraiye, Aap Lucknow Mein Hai,” Rahul said.

Unbeaten in the tournament India will face defending champions England on Sunday at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023.