Indian wicket-keeper batsman, KL Rahul who scored a brilliant century against South Africa and took his team to a respectable total in the first test in Centurion.
Regarding the criticism faced by the players in the social media, he replied that every player has to face the negative comments of the public, especially in the social media. He also was abused by the people in the social media and now he doesn’t use these platforms so that he can maintain calm and peace through his mind.
He also added that if any one is saying that they did not actually have any problem with the negativity in these platforms they must be lying about that. He also gets affected by these comments which later reflect in his performance.
KL Rahul said,
“You have your own personality, personality traits, characteristics. When you play international cricket, they all get challenged. As a person, as a cricketer, as an individual, you are challenged each day, each moment. Social media is a pressure. Today I have scored a hundred so people are singing praises. Three-four months ago, everybody was abusing me. It's part of the game, but I can't say it doesn't affect you; it does. The sooner you realise that staying away from it is good for your game and your mindset the better it is.
You can perform or you can be in a better mindset if you slightly know where to draw the line. Nobody's that great that they can completely avoid what has been said and the criticism they're getting. It does affect each person. And anyone who says that doesn't affect them at all, I'm sure is lying. But each person has to find their way. And for me, when I was injured and was away from the game for such a long time, I worked on myself. I tried to go back to the person that I am, and worked on how I don't change myself by getting affected by these things.
I worked on myself and then worked on remaining calmer, and taking care of my head. And what happens inside as well."
He further added how he batted in the middle order position, especially in this Test match where he scored a brilliant century.
"Batting in the middle order, what I've realized is that you can't really plan your innings all that much. When you walk in, there's a situation in front of you (and) the situation in the game tells you how you need to play and what you need to do at that time and in that moment. That's what I tried to do. I try to walk in with a very free and empty mindset when I'm batting in the middle order, see what the game demands of me and try to do my best in that moment. Yesterday and today, the situation was quite clear that I'm batting with the tail and I need to take my chances and try to score as many runs as I can. It came off so I am happy."