IND Vs SA: KL Rahul Inching Towards Eclipsing This Virat Kohli Record

Wicket Keeper Batsman KL Rahul who is currently serving as the Captain of the Indian ODI team on tour of South Africa is just one step away from equaling a record held by former team India captain Virat Kohli.

Later today, the Men in Blue will square off against the Proteas for a series-deciding 3rd ODI at Paarl’s Boland Park Stadium from 4 PM (IST) onwards. The series is currently level at 1-1 with the hosts winning the 2nd ODI at Gqeberha after losing the first ODI in a one-sided affair at Johannesburg’s Wanderers Stadium.

The South Africans produced an emphatic response in the 2nd ODI after getting all out for 116 in the 1st ODI with Rahul Dravid’s side chasing down the total comfortably by the 17th over.

However, at Gqeberha, the South Africans made the visitors taste their own medicine which led to a dramatic middle-order collapse of the Indian batting line-up, seeing them getting folded for 211, leaving 212 as the target to defend for the bowlers.

In response, Reeza Hendricks and Tony De Zorzi added 130 runs for the first wicket before the former departed for 52. Number 3 Rassie Van Der Dussen took the game further away from India’s reach and also saw his teammate De Zorzi getting to his maiden ODI century.

Following Van Der Dussen’s dismissal Aiden Markram and De Zorzi took South Africa over the victory line and today we will find out the deserving winners of the 3-match ODI series ahead of a 2 Test match series starting from December 26.

If India are to win the series then they will have to undo everything they did in the 2nd ODI. The Middle order looked highly unreliable with KL Rahul scoring the only half-century other than opener Sai Sudarshan.

KL Rahul Could Become Only The Second Indian Captain To Win An ODI Series In South Africa

A win in today’s game will see KL Rahul become only the second Indian Captain to clinch an ODI series at South African soil. In India’s rich legacy of Cricket, Virat Kohli stands as the only captain to lead his team towards an ODI series win back in 2018 by 5-1.

Team India has had some of the Best captains in World cricket like Kapil Dev, Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly, and MS Dhoni but Virat Kohli is the only one to win a 50-over series in South Africa.

Kohli’s record could be on the verge of getting equaled and KL Rahul has a golden chance to do so. Back in 2022 when South Africa toured India, a Shikhar Dhawan-led Indian team won the 3-match ODI series by 2-1 but that was a home series.

Today, all eyes will be on KL Rahul, and his captaincy as a win today will not just put him in the same bracket as Virat Kohli but it will also be a major boost that India will require in the upcoming Test series.

In case you didn’t know, the Indian team has never won a Test series at South Africa and Rohit Sharma could well become the first Indian Captain to win a Red-ball series there. Will KL Rahul lead India to a series win today? Time will tell.