KL Rahul, who is in and out of the Indian team, had to deal with another problem a few months back when he attended Koffee With Karan talk show along with Hardik Pandya.
The comments Hardik Pandya made on the show received severe backlash and the duo was suspended immediately.
Talking about the events, the Indian cricketer said that the controversy did affect him.
“I won’t lie. I was bitter for a bit; it affected and bothered me a lot. I was angry, but I came out of it all as a more accepting person. I understood that certain things are sensitive, and no matter what you do, certain people will find the bad in you,” Rahul told TOI.
While talking about his equation with Hardik Pandya after the incident, the cricketer added that they are still good friends.
“It was hard for both of us. We did speak to each other about it while this whole process was on (investigation). He was with his family and friends and I was with my people. We switched off from the outside world for those few weeks. We learnt from the situation, accepted it, and now we are back to being good friends. We literally spend 300 days together… travelling and playing cricket. Hardik is still a good friend and we enjoy each other’s company,” Rahul said.
“I need to focus more on cricket, spend more time in the gym, on the field — practising and training. It made me more focussed on my profession and what I really need to do. As I told you before, cricket is the only thing I am good at and there’s nothing else I can do to survive, so I need to give it all I have,” he further added.