It was not an easy wicket: KL Rahul

It was a cracker of a contest that set the Greenfield Stadium ablaze, thanks to a surface that produced a few magic tricks of its own and some mind-blowing display by the Indian bowlers who were bang on their money to send the South Africans back with a bitter taste in their mouth.

KL Rahul played a responsible anchor to a swashbuckling display from Suryakumar Yadav at the other end and brought up his half-century through a winning blow that helped India secure an important 1-0 lead in the series.

The Indian opener and vice-captain spoke at length in a post-match interview, where he clearly talked about how difficult batting on the surface was and how crucial Arshdeep’s spell and Surya’s dynamic batting at the other end played an instrumental role in sealing the fate of the tie for the Indians.

Talking about the surface, Rahul said, “This was hard work. So we came in prepared for a scrap. It was not an easy wicket. I wanted to be challenged and wanted to do the job for the team. When the bowlers do such a phenomenal job, it becomes easy for the batters.”

He then shifted his focus to how brilliantly Suryakumar Yadav batted throughout the innings, saying, “Was unbelievable for Surya to come out and play the shots. We saw how the ball was flying and for Surya to come out with that approach was phenomenal. After the first ball, he wanted to be aggressive and take on the bowler. He said he wanted to play his shots and gets some runs. That helped me to take my time and play one end. We did practice here yesterday, and there was a humbling experience as well.”

The Indian hard-hitter concluded by saying a few words about the phenomenal Arshdeep, highlighting how brilliant the youngster had been in the contest. He stated, “He is growing with each game, and with each outing, he gets better. I have seen him at close quarters in the IPL. He is not afraid of the big stage, bowling to big batters. He keeps growing. This season what he did for his franchise was phenomenal, He is carrying the confidence and doing the job for the team. You always want a left-arm seamer in your line-up. Long ice bath today.”