Indian skipper Rohit Sharma showered praise on KL Rahul after the team’s ignominious loss of an innings and 32 runs at the New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg on Friday. After being put into bat, India was skittled out for a competitive score of 245 runs, courtesy of a fighting knock of 101 runs from wicket-keeper bat KL Rahul.
Despite regular wickets falling at the other end, Rahul showed all the gumption in testing conditions. The flamboyant batter showed respect for the good balls but he was also able to put away the poor deliveries. He scored 14 fours and four sixes and scored at an impressive strike rate of 73.72 but lacked support from the other end as none of the other Indian batters could go past the 40-run mark.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Rohit said, “What KL Rahul did in the first innings is the perfect example of the intent, at the same time respecting the conditions as well. At the end of the day, he scored runs at a strike rate of 71, and he put the bad balls away. That is what we talk about intent. We don’t want to just go and swing our bats. If there are conditions we’ll do that. There is a very thin line.”
“Every individual is quite different and we try to talk to every individual in the way they want to play. Obviously, keeping the conditions in mind, what better they can do as well,” he added.
Rohit added it is imperative to adapt to the testing conditions as soon as possible and take advantage when the bowlers are tired.
“When you come to places like this, with conditions like that, you need to have all kinds of things in your mind. You got to go and adapt and know that there will be times when the bowlers will be tired, and try to cash in,” the 36-year-old explained.
Despite the heavy loss, Rohit expressed optimism that his team could bounce back in the second Test match at Cape Town and admitted it is important for him to back his players, especially after a big loss like this.
“It’s not always going to be happy days for the captain. On days like these, the captain needs to stand up and get around the team more than anything else… We can learn from what went wrong. But when you take the job, you will have days like this. I have full confidence in the guys we have here now. But now it’s about getting together and standing for each other,” he concluded.
The second Test match between South Africa and India will be played at the Newlands, Cape Town from January 3.
