KL Rahul says Koffee with Karan controversy ‘scarred me massively’: ‘It changed me completely, didn’t know how to handle it’

“Now I don’t (do that) because that interview scarred me massively. Getting suspended from the team. I have never been suspended in school, I have never been punished in school. All this never happened to me. I didn’t know how to handle it,” he shared with Nikhil Kamath on his podcast. The backlash of this particular episode was such that it was pulled down by the streamer. 

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Drawing parallels with his school life, Rahul shared that he was someone who never even got punished in school, and suddenly, he was ousted from the team, and was paying fines. “I did mischievous things in schools like chota mota (small things), but nothing to get me expelled from school or my parents have had to come. That was my first, and then you realise how bad it is,” said the cricketer, who is married to actor Athiya Shetty. 

Hardik’s comments were seen as sexist and while Rahul tried to stay level-headed, he too was pulled up by BCCI for his comments on the show. He later told The Times of India that he was “bitter for a bit” and the episode “affected and bothered” him. “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,” he said.

Since this episode, no other cricketers have appeared on Koffee with Karan.