KL Rahul made his Test captaincy debut during the tour of South Africa earlier this year. With regular captain Virat Kohli out of action due to a back stiff, Rahul came out for the toss in the India blazer. However, the start was not great as the visiting side lost the game by seven wickets.
Meanwhile, Rahul wasn’t fully prepared as he was only informed by Kohli in the bus when the team was on its way to the ground. However, going by Virat Kohli, KL Rahul still didn’t believe that the the former might give this game a miss.
Speaking to Gaurav Kapur on the Breakfast with Champions, Rahul stated:
“When I got the opportunity to captain the country in Johannesburg in a Test match, it happened so suddenly. Virat told me in the bus on the morning of the game that ‘I may not play this game because I have a stiff back’. Till I was in the bus and till I reached the ground for warmups, I was like ‘no, Virat can’t miss a game because of a small injury’.”
He then went onto add:
“After the warmups the coach told me that he is not looking good and that I need to go wear the blazer and go for the toss. I didn’t have a blazer so I had to borrow Virat’s. When I was walking down the steps, I was like ‘this looks good on me’. I was always confident and happy.”
KL Rahul lost his 1st Test as India captain
KL Rahul had a mixed outing in the Test match as he managed a half-century in the first innings but got out scoring only eight runs in the second essay.
India eventually went onto lose the Test match, which helped South Africa to crawl back in the series. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli came back to lead in the final match but the losing streak continued as India lost the series 1-2.
After the series, Virat Kohli relinquished his leadership duties from the red-ball format of the game. Rohit Sharma was eventually handed over the reins of all the formats.
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