India vice-captain stormed back to form on Wednesday as he made a blistering fifty against Bangladesh at the Adelaide Oval in a must-win game for Rohit Sharma and company in the T20 World Cup. Despite his heroics with the bat, KL Rahul was still trolled on social media with several netizens posting Athiya Shetty memes to poke fun at him.

Athiya Shetty happens to be the daughter of actor Sunil Shetty and has herself acted in many films. The couple has been in a relationship for more than half a decade.

Notably, Athiya Shetty was present at the ground when KL Rahul made his maiden half-century of the 2022 T20 World Cup, and several believed that her presence helped calm the India opener's nerves.

 

KL Rahul finally came out of his batting slump, scoring a scintillating 50 off 32 balls against Bangladesh in India's crucial Group 2 fixture in Adelaide.

Before his explosive knock against Shakib Al Hasan's side, KL Rahul had registered scores of 4, 9, and 9 in the previous three matches of the T20 World Cup.

His string of poor scores in the competition led several experts, including Wasim Jaffer to question his place in the Indian team's playing XI.

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Against Bangladesh, KL Rahul started his innings with a bit of caution before launching a full-blown attack on their bowlers during the latter half of his knock. Overall, he hammered six boundaries and 4 sixes during his outing at the Adelaide Oval.

After India's win against the Bangla Tigers, KL Rahul revealed that he had a long chat with Virat Kohli on the eve of the Bangladesh encounter that helped him in staying in a positive frame of mind in Adelaide.

“We were actually just discussing how Australian conditions have been a little different this time. We have come here before and played Test cricket and we expected the wickets to play in a certain way and that's not happened so far and it's been more challenging than our previous tour. We were just talking about that thing,” KL Rahul said about his discussions with Virat Kohli.

“We were discussing the mindset and what we can do in the middle. I was seeing if I can use something that he says in the middle, and if we can help each other. Those are the discussions that we all have as players. Obviously, he has been doing really well in the last few games and I was trying to understand his mindset and what he is thinking while he is in the middle. Just about that,” the India vice-captain added.

“I was a bit disappointed that I was not able to contribute for the team in the first 3 matches. I don't get frustrated, I didn't feel like my form or my confidence was low. I just didn't get runs and it happens in the game. If you are feeling confident, a good innings will come. I knew in my heart that I was seeing the ball well, I knew that a good knock and a good contribution to the team was coming,” KL Rahul mentioned.

“And yeah I was still relaxed. I have always tried to be as balanced as I can as a person whether I do well, whether I don't do well. I try to judge myself on whether my mindset is right or whether I am trying to do the role and responsibility that the team expects me to do. If I think I am doing that well, I can go to sleep peacefully.”

“The support staff has been really supportive. The captain has always backed his players. And you can see that. That's why players – even when we have had a couple of tough innings – we find a way to come back and do well for the team. It is something you work on as a team. There are things you work on as an individual that help you but these are things that as a team you work on. The support staff, the coach, the captain, when they show confidence and faith in you, it gives you that confidence as a player that you will get the backing if you are going in the right direction,” KL Rahul stated.

Meanwhile, India captain Rohit Sharma was impressed with KL Rahul for his excellent knock against Bangladesh, especially at a time when calls for him to be dropped from the side had grown in recent days.

“Also liked the way how KL played today. We know what sort of a player he is, if he bats the way he can, he puts the team in a different position. Our fielding was brilliant, some of the catches we took was great to watch. It's a high-pressure game, to take those catches shows the ability of our guys and honestly I never had any doubts about our fielding,” Rohit Sharma concluded.