Team India batting coach Vikram Rathour lauded KL Rahul as the “man of crisis” after his brilliant performance on the first day of the Boxing Test match against South Africa on Tuesday, December 26 at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. KL Rahul held the Indian innings together and is unbeaten overnight.
After Shreyas Iyer’s dismissal, KL Rahul walked out to bat at number 6. He started well, however, wickets kept falling from the other end. India was soon reduced to 121/6. KL Rahul got together with Shardul Thakur and later Jasprit Bumrah to stitch small partnerships. They helped India cross the 200-run mark. At the end of day one, India has 208 runs on the board, losing eight wickets.
Talking about the impact of KL Rahul’s unbeaten knock, Vikram Rathour said,
“Rahul is turning out to be the man of crisis for us. Every time, there are tough situations, he is the guy who handles it well for us. Nothing special, he was clear with his game plans, defended the right balls, attacked the right ones.”
The weather was an issue: Vikram Rathour
Team India batting coach Vikram Rathour further expressed that overnight rains played a role in the batter’s finding it difficult at the Centurion. He added that they had done a reasonably good job on the first day despite the conditions. Vikram Rathour said at the press conference,
“It was always going to be challenging. The weather was an issue. The wicket was undercover for a day or more than that. It was always going to be challenging as a batting group. We would have loved to have a couple of more wickets in hand. But we have done reasonably well.”
“Post lunch, Rabada bowled an exceptional spell. We have to try and add as many runs as possible but as we have seen historically, this wicket deteriorates,” he added.
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