Need to make the best out of whatever is left of my career: KL Rahul

KL Rahul's future with his Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 franchise, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), could be in jeopardy as the mega auction looms large. Rahul has led LSG since 2022 and took his team to the playoffs in the first two seasons. However, in IPL 2024, his side had a disappointing campaign, ending up seventh on the points table.

Rahul has been excellent for LSG, having hit 1410 runs at 41.47 and a strike rate of 130.7, including two tons and 10 fifties in 38 innings. However, the 32-year-old has already started to think about life post-cricket and says he needs to make the best of whatever is left of his career.

"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," Rahul said on Nitin Kamath's podcast 

"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. Some weird thing happened on my 30th birthday. I could see I had 10 more years to play cricket, and that gave me anxiety, and that was 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."

So, what does Rahul plan on doing once his international career is over? He has already thought of starting some sort of business and also investing his money in the right places, as he believes that his income will take a big dip once he calls it a day.

"That is part of the reason I have started thinking about businesses and investing my money right. So that my life after cricket is taken care of," the Karnataka batter said. 

"I know there will be a huge dip in the amount I earn after I retire. COVID-19 happened at the right time and it gave me time to sit and research how I can invest my money. You generally lean on your family to guide you when you start earning, but I did not have that. All this is new for my father too.

"I met some good people. I have some good friends who guided me. I am trying to set up a few things before I retire so that when I retire that transition from an athlete to doing something in business will be smooth and make me happier than not knowing what to do."

Rahul also has a message to the IPL franchise owners. He believes picking players with data is fine, but it does not guarantee success. "Owners coming from business background in IPL, they do research and pick the team, but it doesn't guarantee that you will win every game. You might get the best player based on data but they might have a horrible year," he said. 

"Every player can have a bad day in Sports. There's nothing in sport that guarantees success. There's no formula that can get you success."

Rahul will now focus on the Duleep Trophy, where he will turn up for the India A side, led by Shubman Gill. The first round of matches will get underway from September 5 in Anantapur and Bengaluru.

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