Vikram Rathour, India’s batting coach, praised opener-turned-middle-order hitter KL Rahul for his undefeated half-century on Day One of the Boxing Day Test against South Africa in Centurion.
After being reduced to 92-4 by South African quicks on a difficult day one wicket in Centurion, KL Rahul came to the fore to take India back into the match with an unbeaten 70 that saw India close the day on 208-8, a position that appeared improbable at one point.
Rahul was put to the test by South Africa’s four-pronged seam attack, but he came out on top as he blended prudence with aggressiveness while batting with the tailenders for the most of his innings.
Rahul, who scored a century here exactly two years ago in the 2021 Boxing Day Test match, was dubbed India’s “crisis man” by Rathour for his impeccable touch and strokeplay.
“He’s certainly going to be a man of crisis for us, I think,” Rathour remarked after the day’s play during a news conference.
“Whenever there are difficult circumstances, he is usually there. He’s the one who knows how to handle certain circumstances.
KL Rahul had a successful World Cup, scoring three times over 50 and averaging 75.
“He was very clear with his game plans, what he wanted to do, defended the right balls, attacked the right balls.”
South Africa chose to bowl first because to the circumstances, and they made early inroads to expose India’s inexperienced middle-order. time Virat Kohli batted with Shreyas Iyer for a time, after the Proteas broke past those two, it was up to Rahul to continue the batting.
“The batting conditions were difficult. After 3-4 games of cricket, I believe we finished at 91-43. “There was a good recovery and a good partnership between the two [Kohli and Iyer],” the batting coach stated, adding that Kohli looked terrific in the middle.
Despite the early collapse, the batting coach was certain that the visitors had performed well. After rain cut play short on day one, India will restart on 208/8. Rahul, who is undefeated at 70, is joined by Mohammed Siraj, with Prasidh Krishna following.