KL Rahul recalls Koffee With Karan controversy: 'That experience changed me completely'

In 2019, the Koffee With Karan episode featuring cricketers Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul stirred significant controversy due to comments deemed inappropriate and sexist. The backlash led Disney+ Hotstar to pull down the episode, and the cricketers faced considerable fallout.

During a recent interview on WTF with Nikhil Kamath, KL Rahul reflected on the impact the episode had on him. He described the experience as transformative, revealing, "The interview was a different world. That experience changed me completely. I was a very shy, soft-spoken boy growing up. As I progressed in my cricket career, I became more confident and had no trouble engaging with large groups of people. People would notice me in a room of a hundred because I'd interact with everyone."

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He continued, "But now, I don’t do that anymore because that KWK interview scarred me deeply. Being suspended from the team was a shock. I had never faced such a situation before; I was never even punished in school. This was a first for me, and it was overwhelming to handle. I had done small mischievous things in school, but nothing that would get me expelled or cause my parents to intervene. That episode and the subsequent backlash were my first major fall, and it made me realize just how severe the consequences can be."

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Following their controversial Koffee With Karan appearance, Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul received widespread criticism for their comments, which were widely regarded as sexist. As a result, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended them from the team and excluded them from a three-match ODI series against Australia. They were also fined Rs 20 lakh each by the BCCI. Karan Johar, the show's host, later expressed that he felt 'very responsible' for the repercussions faced by the cricketers.