IND vs SA, 1st Test: Staying away from social media makes KL Rahul happier, says India takes blow after ton against South Africa

Riding on KL Rahul’s 101 in 137 balls, India posted 245 all out in the first innings of the first Test against South Africa.

Centurion: Don’t you ever feel like you’re responding to trolls who are ruthless and sometimes straight out of line when they criticize you? KL Rahul was asked. “What do I achieve (by) doing that?” he replied. “Logon ko jo bolna hoga bolenge (People will say what they want). If you are a public performer, performance is your only measure to avoid criticism.

And as far as social media is concerned, the further you stay away from it, the happier you will be,” a composed Rahul told the media after scoring what Sunil Gavaskar termed as one of the 10 best hundreds ever hit by an Indian batsman .

“If he (Gavaskar) has said that, it’s a huge compliment,” he said after his astonishing 137-ball 101. Rahul said the time away from playing due to injury helped him work on his personality. “When you play international cricket you are not only challenged as a player but also as a person because you have a personality.

“So when I wasn’t competing, I was working on myself as a person. Obviously there were people who wanted to help me,” he said. He believed that comments on social media influenced a person, but you had to know where to draw the line.

“Someone who greets me today abused me a few months ago. Anyone who says they aren’t bothered by comments on social media is lying. But the more you stay away, the better it is for your mentality,” he said.

South Africa has the nose ahead and Rahul said batting has become easier. “Today in the morning, when we batted for those 7-8 overs, I felt the wicket had come down a bit. But things can change quickly here and cracks appear.”

Rahul said that the Centurion wicket never makes a batsman feel ‘set’ and sometimes you can score freely and sometimes you can’t. The key to mid-range batting and long play is not to plan too much, the 31-year-old opined.

“You can’t plan so much. There is a game situation that tells you how to play at that time and at that time. You must remain free and empty. You have to be aware that you may have to hit the tail,” he said.