India captain KL Rahul couldn’t help but smile when asked about the impact of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma after India edged out South Africa by 17 runs in a tense series opener in Ranchi on Sunday. For him, the joy wasn’t just in the win — it was in watching two modern greats remind the world of their class.
Kohli’s 120-ball 135, his 52nd ODI hundred, set up India’s total of 349, while Rohit’s fluent 57 ensured a brisk start. Their partnership, Rahul said, once again showcased why oppositions often appear “silly” trying to contain them.
“Watching Rohit and Kohli play like that is always fun,” Rahul said at the post-match presentation. “They’ve made oppositions look silly and show why they are who they are. I’ve seen this for a long time — it’s a lot more fun to see them around in the dressing room.”
The game, however, tightened considerably as South Africa’s lower order mounted a spirited fightback, forcing India’s stand-in captain to sweat through the final overs.
“I’d be lying if I said there were no butterflies in my stomach,” Rahul admitted. “We’re playing ODI cricket after a while and there’s always expectation. But we kept taking wickets and the bowlers stuck to their plans. They pushed us and kept coming hard.”
Rahul on his role and India’s young attack
The wicketkeeper-batter said batting at No. 6 — a role he has taken up in recent series — has become an important phase in his own evolution.
“Batting at No. 6 is okay, got to do the job for the team. That’s the role I’ve been given in the last 2–3 series. It’s helping personal development,” he said.
Rahul reserved special praise for Harshit Rana, whose early strikes pegged South Africa back, and Kuldeep Yadav, whose four-wicket haul proved decisive.
“Harshit’s done really well. We always knew he had potential. He’s tall, bowls fast. He might go for runs at the back end, but he has great potential,” Rahul said. “To get crucial new-ball wickets is what we expect. Kuldeep is doing this job — key for us to take wickets.”
Kuldeep: ‘Had to mix things up’
Kuldeep explained that the plan was to stay aggressive even when conditions made gripping the wet ball tough.
“When I came after the first spell, I had a chat with KL. We wanted to attack despite it being tough as wickets were important,” he said. “I was mixing up the scrambled seam and seam-up. Just tried to go back of a length; it was easy to connect off a full length.”
The left-arm wrist-spinner admitted that the one-ball rule after 34 overs made life difficult.
“It was very challenging — the ball was getting really wet. We kept putting dust on it and asked for a replacement. Bosch and Jansen were playing great innings, so we wanted a wicket,” he said. “I bowled a few balls slower through the air. You can’t rely only on stock balls; you have to mix things up.”
– Ends
