‘I could see the end of the tunnel’ - KL Rahul reflects on short shelf life of athlete's career at international level
"There is no insecurity, but there is a feeling that all this ends, and for me it ends very quickly. If you are fit enough, you can play till 40," KL Rahul said.
Star India batter KL Rahul recently came forward and highlighted the short shelf life of an athlete's career, he also spoke about his thoughts when he was considering retirement. Notably, Rahul did not have a good campaign with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the IPL 2024 and was struggling to find a spot in the national team.
In the same vein, the flamboyant batter and current skipper of LSG opined that a player can play until he is 40, provided he is fit. However, he revealed feeling anxious when he turned 30. Even revealing that he could see the light at the end of the tunnel, hinting at his eventual retirement.
"There is no insecurity, but there is a feeling that all this ends, and for me it ends very quickly. If you are fit enough, you can play till 40. That is the maximum someone has played. Yes, there is MS Dhoni, who is 43 and is still playing,” KL Rahul on a podcast on Nikhil Kamath's YouTube channel.
“You can play the IPL and all of that, but not at the international level for too long. There is a fear and realisation that the shelf life is really small for an athlete, and you need to make the most of it within whatever time you have," he continued.
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For me, the anxiety was when I hit 30: KL Rahul
Furthermore, KL Rahul expressed how he expects to play 10 more years of cricket, but the thought that it has to end at some point. The 32-year-old revealed that he was hyper-focused on playing cricket, and now he can see the end.
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"For me, the anxiety was when I hit 30. I could see the end of the tunnel. Till I was 29, I could not see that. Some weird thing happened on my 30th birthday. I could see I have 10 more years to play cricket, and that gave me anxiety, and that is the first time I felt like 'This comes to an end at some point.' All I have done all my life is 'Cricket, Cricket, Cricket,' without imagining this comes to an end. Now I can see it. It is not too far away," Rahul concluded.
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