Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma helped KL Rahul come out of his depression after he failed badly in his debut Test against Australia in Melbourne.
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KL Rahul is one of the most talented Indian cricketers. Although he has not been able to cement his place in any of the three formats, he looks very promising. If he can keep himself away from injury, the day is not for when he would be an automatic choice in all the three formats of the game for India.
In the recently concluded IPL Rahul was in sublime touch and ended as one of the highest run scorers. His franchise Kings XI Punjab started on a great note but faded away as the tournament went on.
As it turned out, the team that was once leading the charts could not even qualify for the playoffs. The two players who did the bulk of the scoring for KXIP were Chris Gayle and KL Rahul. Even between the two, KL Rahul was the dominating factor and almost single handedly ensured that the team reached decent totals.
This incident dates back to 2014 when India were touring Australia and KL Rahul made his debut in Melbourne. In the first innings he was sent in the middle order. While facing Nathan Lyon, Rahul lost his composure as he tried to slog sweep a delivery. However, he could not connect the ball and was caught by Hazlewood.
In the next innings Rahul was promoted up the order and came out to bat at number three. The match was in a crunch situation and India needed 384 runs to win. However, Rahul got carried away yet again on a bouncer from Michelle Johnson.
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He tried to hook the ball but the ball went straight up in the air and was caught by Shane Watson. As a result, India bundled out for 174 and lost the match.
After the match, Rahul was very disappointed and was on the verge of depression. Just then he heard a knock on his door. It was Anushka Sharma who was then dating Virat Kohli. Anushka offered KL Rahul to accompany her on her dinner date with Virat Kohli.
“There was one instance after a match at Melbourne where I had a terrible performance. I was miserable and depressed. Anushka, who noticed this, came up to my room and asked me to accompany her and Virat to their dinner date. The couple talked me through their similar experiences and that helped me understand how to manage these situations better,” Rahul told IANS.
The duo also helped Rahul to come in a better frame of mind by sharing stories of how they underwent failure and then came out of it victorious. Rahul thanked the couple for their compassion saying, “They took immense care of me and ensured I was not alone. They even made sure I spent the New Year night with them. They are an amazing couple and have really had a powerful influence on me.”
