[WATCH] KL Rahul recalls Rahul Dravid's reaction after his century celebration in Asia Cup 2023

India’s wicket-keeper batter, KL Rahul, had experienced a roller-coaster time in the 50-over format as he came into the middle-order of the line-up after opening the batting in the past. He was proven to be worthy and was picked ahead of Rishabh Pant in the ODI World Cup 2023 and the Champions Trophy 2025.

During a recent interview, Rahul recalled the time when he celebrated his century against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2025 after being out of the second half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 due to injury. The Karnataka batter revealed that the then head coach, Rahul Dravid, wasn’t pleased during his century celebration as he turned his back on the dressing room.

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“I'll tell you a story. So this was right after my injury. I was not supposed to play this game either. Shreyas Iyer was supposed to play, but he got a back spasm, and I ended up playing this game. For those four months, that I was out, through that hard phase, every morning I woke up and said the same thing, 'I'll be the best player in the world.” Rahul expressed on the ‘2 Sloggers’ podcast.

[WATCH] KL Rahul expresses how Rahul Dravid reacted to his century celebration in Asia Cup 2023

Rahul has smashed 3092 runs in 81 ODI innings. The 33-year-old has an average of 48.31 and a strike rate of 88.41 with the help of 18 half-centuries and seven centuries at the best score of 112 runs. He also contributed well in the recent three-match ODI series against Australia down under.

“I motivated myself. The dressing room was on this side. I turned my back on the dressing room and then this celebration. Rahul Dravid, the coach, got a little upset. 'Why did you turn your back on the dressing room?' I said, 'No, sir, I meant no disrespect. ' In the four to five months that I was out, I had a dream that there was a statue of me with me celebrating like that.” Rahul shed light in the podcast.

The veteran also looked back at Dravid’s reaction when he heard about the salute dream. The right-handed batter remained unbeaten on 111 off 106 balls in Colombo.