2 days ago
10
ARTICLE AD BOX
KL Rahul in action. (PTI photo)
KL Rahul chipped in with another half-century in Raipur on the back of his 50 at Ranchi. Coming in the middle order, the Karnataka batter played the situation quite well, showing awareness. Former South Africa cricketer lauded KL Rahul and said that if he had been batting higher up the order, he would have gotten more centuries.
“He just knows how to do it. Again, if he batted 3 or if he opened the batting, I am pretty certain he would also go on to get the hundreds because of the lack of deliveries faced. But those positions are for other players, and he knows what his role is within this team. And both games so far, he has played fantastic innings,” Steyn said on Star Sports.
“A good, handy knock set by the skipper, KL, and he led his team well in the first one, managed to up the ante when he needed to. And again today, there was a period where he went semi-slow with Jadeja. South Africa bowled well in that little transitional period there, and the last over picked up the most expensive over of the innings,” he added.
The toss conundrum
Rahul said his side needed to be sharper in key moments but felt the toss played a decisive role in the home team’s four-wicket loss to South Africa in the second ODI here on Tuesday. Asked to bat first, India rode on centuries from Virat Kohli (102 off 93 balls), his 53rd ODI hundred, and Ruturaj Gaikwad (105 off 83 balls), who notched up his maiden ton in the format, to post an imposing 358 for five.
South Africa, however, gunned down the target with remarkable authority, finishing at 362 for six in 49.2 overs, courtesy a superb century from Aiden Markram (110) and fifties from Matthew Breetzke (68) and Dewald Brevis (54). “Not really a (tough one to swallow) given how much dew there is and how difficult it is to bowl in the second innings,” Rahul said at the post-match presentation after losing the toss for the second straight game in the series.
“Thought we did well in the last game. Today the umpires were nice to change the ball. Toss plays a big role so I’m kicking myself for losing 2 tosses in a row (laughs).”
English (US) ·