“The anxiety was when I hit 30, I could see the end of the tunnel” – KL Rahul opens up on nearing the finish line of his career

India’s wicket-keeper bat KL Rahul has opened on his future and said he could see the end of the tunnel after turning 30. The Karnataka batter, who turned 32 earlier in the year, is a vital part of India’s Test and ODI team and has performed consistently for the team.

However, the flamboyant batter was not part of India’s T20 World Cup winning squad and might not get his chances in the shortest format of the game.

KL Rahul said on Nikhil Kamath’s YouTube Channel, “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. 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.”

Rahul realised he might have a decade more of cricket left in his tank after he turned 30.

“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 made his debut for India back in 2014 and since then he has performed consistently for the team.

The wicket-keeper bat believes if one is fit, then he can play till 40 at the top 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. That is the maximum someone has played. Yes, there is MS Dhoni, who is 43 and is still playing. You can play the IPL and all of that, but not at the international level for too long,” said Rahul.

Rahul is part of the upcoming Duleep trophy and he will represent Team A.