IND vs SA: “I Wanted To Be Challenged And Wanted To Do The Job For The Team” - KL Rahul On His 51* In First T20I
Updated - 29 Sep 2022, 12:45 AM
KL Rahul, India batter, said that he was severely tested by the South African bowling attack in the first T20I between the sides on September 28, 2022 in Trivandrum, but was happy that he withstood the onslaught and stood there and finished the game for his side.
Chasing 107 to win the game and go 1-0 up in the three-T20I series, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell made the Indian batters work hard for their runs. The big wigs Rohit Sharma (0) and Virat Kohli (3) failed to get going as Rabada and Nortje got rid of them using the bounce of the Greenfield pitch.
However, Suryakumar Yadav made batting look ridiculously easy on this pitch finishing on 50* in 33 balls with 3 sixes and 5 fours. Two of those sixes came in the first three balls he faced from Anrich Nortje.
KL Rahul, on the other hand, was batting at 11 from 22 balls when Suryakumar came to bat, but managed to catch up and finish on 51* in 56 balls with 2 fours and 4 sixes to his name as India romped home by 8 wickets in 16.4 overs.
After the game, KL Rahul had a talk with commentators about the hard work he did on this pitch.
He said: “This was hard work. Was unbelievable for Surya to come out and play the shots. We saw how the ball was flying and for Surya to come out with that approach was phenomenal. After the first ball, he wanted to be aggressive and take on the bowler. He said he wanted to play his shots and gets some runs. That helped me to take my time and play one end. We did practice here yesterday, and there was a humbling experience as well. So we came in prepared for a scrap. It was not an easy wicket. I wanted to be challenged and wanted to do the job for the team.
When the bowlers do such a phenomenal job, it becomes easy for the batters. [Arshdeep] He is growing with each game, and with each outing, he gets better. I have seen him at close quarters in the IPL. He is not afraid of the big stage, bowling to big batters. He keeps growing. This season what he did for his franchise was phenomenal, He is carrying the confidence and doing the job for the team. You always want a left-arm seamer in your line-up. Long ice bath today.”
Deepak Chahar And Arshdeep Singh Rock South Africa’s Boat With 5 Wickets In First 3 Overs
Much of the credit for India’s win has to go to the bowlers as Deepak Chahar (2/24) and Arshdeep Singh (3/32), with two wickets by Harshal Patel and one by Axar kept South Africa to 106/8.
Chahar got Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs out for ducks, while Arshdeep picked Quinton de Kock (1), Rilee Russouw (0), and David Miller (0) leaving Proteas 9/5 in 2.3 overs. But 41 from Keshav Maharaj and contributions from Kagiso Rabada and Aiden Markram helped them over get past the 100-run mark.
