Sunil Shetty has opened up about how his feelings when his son-in-law, cricketer KL Rahul, is subjected to nasty trolling on social media. The Indian wicketkeeper faced online criticism for his poor fielding in the ODI World Cup final against Australia. He was also trolled for his low strike rate in middle-order. KL Rahul scored 66 runs from 107 balls in the final. In a recent interview, Sunil Shetty talked about how KL Rahul often asked him to stop responding to trolls.
“Very very much, probably more than it hurts him (KL Rahul). Probably more than my own trolls hurt me. You know the way the children are. They’d never talk about anything. He says, ‘Let it be, Dad. My bat will talk.’ And it’s spoken. The faith of the people, the faith of the captain, the selectors in him said it all. So we’ve never said anything,” Sunil Shetty said.
However, the Bollywood actor also revealed that in spite of Rahul’s gritty words, Shetty gets hurt when he sees online trolls in KL Rahul’s name.
“But trust me, it hurts me ten times, a hundred times more than it would Rahul or Athiya or anybody else. As parents, only Rahul’s parents and we go through more than even (what) the kids would go through,” Sunil Shetty added.
Fan of KL Rahul: Sunil Shetty
KL Rahul’s recent injury woes and struggle to get back in form hasn’t deterred Sunil Shetty from being a ‘fan’ of the keeper-batter though.
“I am a fan of his (KL Rahul). I was then, I am a fan of his cricket even now. He may be my son, but I am his fan. They must have lost the final, but they won every heart in this country. When I meet people, they say, ‘What a team, yaar.’ Earlier it would be only about winning and losing.”