KL Rahul and Virat Kohli in Test
KL Rahul and Virat Kohli (Image Credit: Twitter)

KL Rahul had an ominous outing in his maiden Test match as India captain against South Africa, as the hosts defeated the visitors by 7 wickets in Johannesburg. However, regular captain Virat Kohli appreciated the way Rahul captained the side in the defeat.

KL Rahul was named the captain of the Indian team at The Wanderers after Virat Kohli pulled out of the side with an upper back spasm. Rahul top-scored with 50 in India’s first innings score of 202. While India managed to keep South Africa to 229 runs in their first do, the batters failed to put up a huge score in the second innings and were bundled out for 266 runs with Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane scoring brisk half-centuries.

Wasim Jaffer on KL Rahul
Photo Credit: (AP)

The chase of 240 runs proved to be an easy one with Dean Elgar making 96* and leading the team to the win from the front.

He (KL Rahul) Has Handled It In A Balanced Way: Virat Kohli

Giving his take on KL Rahul’s leadership, Kohli said he had a balanced approach but the Proteas outplayed India with their superlative chase.

“He (Rahul) has handled it in a balanced way. What I saw from his plans and field placements that he tried his best to get wickets and breakthroughs in the second innings. But the situation was such that South Africa played well to chase the runs. I don’t thing anything much could have done,” Kohli said.

Rahul was smart with his decisions but he certainly missed Kohli’s on-field aggression.

KL Rahul
KL Rahul. (Photo: Twitter)

“Everyone has different styles in captaincy. I would have done a bit differently too but the intent would have been to get the wickets. I think he worked in a balanced manner,” Kohli concluded.

Virat Kohli will be back to lead the Indian team when they clash with South Africa in the third and final Test match at the Newlands in Cape Town from January 11. It will be a big chance for India to win their maiden Test series in the rainbow nation.

Read More  Former Indian chief selector taken aback by Virat Kohli

Earlier India had made history by becoming the first Asian nation to win a Test match at the Supersport Park in Centurion, where India beat South Africa by 130 runs. But then South Africa made the history of its own by beating India for the very first time at the Wanderers since 1992.

Also Read: IND V SA: Virat Kohli Short On Confidence, Says Sanjay Manjrekar Before Third Test