KL Rahul was the star of the day for India and saved the team from being bowled out for less than 150 on Day 1 of the Centurion Test against South Africa. During his knock, he had a verbal, aggression-filled battle with pacer Marco Jansen.
The right-handed batter, who has been picked as a wicket-keeper in this series, remained unbeaten on 70 runs. The rain-affected day ended with India at 208/8 in 59 overs.
KL Rahul came in to bat when India were 92/4 and then he lost Virat Kohli and R Ashwin at the other end. He formed crucial partnerships of 43 (68) with Shardul Thakur, 27 (50) with Jasprit Bumrah, and 17*(27) with Mohammed Siraj, who is also not out at stumps on Day 1.
Watch: Marco Jansen sledged KL Rahul to disturb his flow; check Rahul’s response
With Rahul batting in a zen mode, and getting very settled at the crease despite other Indian batters struggling, this perturbed Marco Jansen. Jansen was not having the best of his days with the ball as he sprayed around his lengths. He finished with the sole wicket of Bumrah and leaked at 3.5 runs per over in his 15 overs in the day.
Frustrated by Rahul’s resilience, Jansen sledged the India batter. KL Rahul wasn’t having any of it and replied back with aggressive eyes and gestures.
Watch the video here:
KL Rahul vs Jansen πππ#INDvsSApic.twitter.com/BNBrxpAkq1
— Hasnain Shah π (@shahhasnain77) December 26, 2023
Before Rahul, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer had rebuilt India’s innings with their partnership of 68 (95), but Iyer got out soon after Lunch. India will aim to get near to 250 with Rahul still in there.
Teams:
South Africa (Playing XI): Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma(c), Keegan Petersen, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne(w), Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Kagiso Rabada, Nandre Burger
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
