The Indian cricket team is currently taking on South Africa in the ongoing first off the ongoing 3-match ODI series at the Boland Park in Paarl. This is for the first time that India’s in-form batter KL Rahul will be leading the Indian cricket team in the ODI format.
KL Rahul was handed over the captaincy for the ongoing three-match ODI series after newly-appointed skipper Rohit Sharma was ruled out of the ongoing tour because of a hamstring injury.
Before the game kickstarted, KL Rahul paid rich tributes to Virat Kohli, who recently stepped down from the Test captaincy as well. Speaking at the toss, KL Rahul made a heart-winning statement, expressing his emotions. He said:
“Last couple of days and right after Tests there was a lot going on. Emotional for the team (Kohli stepping down). Lot of us have debuted under Virat. Obviously he’s still with us and integral part of the team,”
Virat Kohli has ended his captaincy stint of 7-years as the most successful skippers to have led the Indian cricket team, having won 40 out of 68 games.
Rahul also talked about the strategy of the Indian setup for the ODI series. He said: “Just want to try out few things in terms of tactics and strategies. Personnel will not change much. Want to give them a good run. Experimentation doesn’t mean we’ll go in and start hitting from ball one.”
Meanwhile, after losing the 3-match Test series by a 2-1 margin, the Indian cricket team will be looking forward to making a strong comeback in the ongoing series.
PLAYING XIs:
INDIA: KL Rahul(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal
SOUTH AFRICA: Quinton de Kock(w), Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma(c), David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi
Also Read: Gautam Gambhir Slams Rohit Sharma’s Critics
