"Two days after she was born..”- KL Rahul gets emotional about being away from his newborn daughter

KL Rahul and Athiya Shetty welcomed a baby daughter in March this year.

One of the players from the just-finished test series against England, KL Rahul, talked candidly about the emotional toll of juggling parenting and playing cricket professionally. Rahul shared in a touching moment the tough decisions he’s faced since his daughter was born earlier this year.

The 33-year-old said that he was emotionally tormented by the decision to leave his family just days after his daughter was born to fulfil his Indian Premier League (IPL) obligations.

KL Rahul then played in the IPL for Delhi Capitals (DC), played local cricket, and toured the UK to play for India A before the test series. This commitment to cricket and the Indian team led to KL Rahul emerging as India’s second-highest run-getter in the England test series. He made 532 runs in five matches at an average of 53.20. He hit two centuries and two fifties in the series.

“Really, really hard decision”—KL Rahul on choosing cricket over newborn daughter

KL Rahul and wife Athiya Shetty, daughter of Bollywood star Suniel Shetty, welcomed a baby girl just as IPL 2025 was about to start. Rahul took off a few days before joining the DC side for the tournament.

He had very few days to spend time with his newborn daughter and wife, and opened up about the hard decision he had to make for his commitment to Indian cricket.

“Two days after she was born, I had to go play the IPL game, and I tried in whatever breaks we got during the IPL to go back for a couple of days and then finish the IPL. It was really hard to take that decision to come here and play that India A game as well because I had not spent any time with her, and I knew when I came here, I wouldn’t see her for another two months, so it’s a really, really hard decision,” Rahul said on Sony Sports.

KL Rahul and Athiya got married on January 23 in 2023.

Acknowledging that the past few months tested him in ways he hadn’t expected, Rahul said, “There were some really hard decisions that I’ve had to make in the last few months, but yeah, I thought that that was the right thing to do for me professionally, and my family’s been really supportive.”

“My wife was very supportive—so, I came here, so I haven’t seen her, and I just keep seeing her pictures, and I’m always on the baby camera, making sure I don’t miss anything or any part of her growth. So, it’s a difficult thing to do when you’re travelling and playing and you miss each day,” he concluded.

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