Former Indian pacer and active commentator Ifran Pathan praised KL Rahul after Team India crushed South Africa 2-1 in the IND vs SA ODI series. KL Rahul led the team in the absence of captain Rohit Sharma and other senior players.
KL Rahul & Co. were missing many senior Indian players like Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja and Shubman Gill among others in the series. However, KL Rahul still managed to carry out the series under his captaincy with a win in the 1st and 3rd ODIs.
The Indian team consisted of many inexperienced and young players like Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Sai Sudharsan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan and Mukesh Kumar among others. However, the young blood showed excellent efforts to edge out the Proteas in the series.
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What a year KL Rahul is having: Irfan Pathan
After India crushed South Africa in the ODI series, cricketer-turned-commentator Irfan Pathan took to Twitter to salute KL Rahul. He congratulated him for becoming the only second Indian captain after Virat Kohli to win an ODI series in South Africa.
“And what a year KL Rahul is having, almost an average of 70 with bat in hand. As the second Indian captain to win a series on South African soil,” Irfan Pathan tweeted. Take a look at the tweet from him below.
And what a year @klrahul is averaging almost 70 with bat in hand. As the second Indian captain to win a series on South African soil.
– Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) December 22, 2023
KL Rahul completely failed during his previous stint as skipper in South Africa. In January 2022, India lost all three ODIs against South Africa to witness a humiliating series whitewash. However, the wicketkeeper-batsman came back strongly with his brilliant captaincy in the recent series.
KL Rahul scored 77 runs in 2 innings of the series. India won the first ODI by 8 wickets but lost the second game by the same margin. Later, they outscored the hosts in the 3rd ODI by 78 runs.
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India crushed South Africa by 78 runs in the third ODI
Batting first in IND vs SA 3rd ODI, India amassed 296-8. Sanju Samson smashed an impressive century to take India to a mighty total. Tilak Varma was another impressive performer with his half-century.
Later, opener Tony de Zorzi hit 81 runs for the Proteas. However, Indian pacers Arshdeep Singh (4 wickets), Avesh Khan (2 wickets) and Mukesh Kumar (1 wicket) executed a lethal pace attack to crush South Africa in the match. Arshdeep Singh won the player of the series award for 10 wickets in 3 games.
Notably, KL Rahul has been in fabulous form since returning to the field after an injury in August. The right-handed batsman scored a century against Pakistan in the 2023 Asia Cup on his return to the national team.
He also scored match-winning knocks for the team during the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. Notably, in the absence of Rishabh Pant, Rahul also took up the goalkeeping responsibility in the World Cup.
India will now take on South Africa in a two-match Test series. The countdown begins on December 26 at Supersport Park in Centurion. Rohit Sharma will return to lead the Indian team in the Test series.
