KL Rahul became the center of a big controversy in Indian cricket when he and Hardik Pandya went to Karan Johar’s talk show, Koffee with Karan, in 2019. Some of their comments during the show caused a huge backlash, leading the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to step in. Recently, Rahul talked about how the interview affected his confidence.
Both players were temporarily suspended from Team India while they were in Australia, which forced them to come back home early. Although their suspension was lifted after a few days, allowing them to play in the IPL and join India’s 2019 World Cup squad, the incident had a lasting impact on Rahul.
In a recent podcast with Nikhil Kamath where Kriti Sanon and Badshah also joined, Rahul discussed the controversy and how it personally affected him. He mentioned that while he wasn’t talking specifically about that event, it had a significant effect on his confidence.
“The interview was a different world. That changed me. Completely changed me. I was a very soft-spoken person growing up. Then I played for India and became very confident. People will know 1 have been in a room of 100 people. Now I don’t because that interview scarred me massively. Getting suspended from the team. I have never been suspended in school, punished in school. I don’t know how to handle it. I did mischief in schools but nothing to get me expelled from school or my parents have come,” Rahul said.
During Koffee with Karan, Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul talked openly about their personal lives. Pandya shared stories about telling his parents he had lost his virginity and pointed out women at a party, joking, that they were like ‘wow.’
Hardik also made some controversial comments about how he views women. When asked about dating the same woman, Rahul said it depended on the woman, but Pandya jumped in, and said that who ever gets her, will take her.
