Dale Steyn feels that KL Rahul would have also scored many more centuries had he batted at No. 3. His assessment came after India’s stand-in captain scored an unbeaten 66 off just 43 balls in the second ODI against South Africa in Raipur on Wednesday, December 3.
During his swashbuckling knock, the Karnataka batter belted six fours and two sixes. He finished with a strike rate of 153.49, helping India set a huge target of 359 for South Africa to chase down in the second innings. The Proteas batted extremely well to reach the target with four balls and as many wickets to spare.
Steyn praised Rahul for how he paced his innings to perfection, even with Ravindra Jadeja struggling to find his timing at the other end.
“He just knows how to do it. Again, if he batted 3 or if he opened the batting, I am pretty certain he would also go on to get the hundreds because of the lack of deliveries faced. But those positions are for other players, and he knows what his role is within this team. And both games so far, he has played fantastic innings,” Steyn said while analysing the innings on Star Sports.
“A good, handy knock set by the skipper, KL, and he led his team well in the first one, managed to up the ante when he needed to. And again today, there was a period where he went semi-slow with Jadeja. South Africa bowled well in that little transitional period there, and the last over picked up the most expensive over of the innings,” he added.
Rahul had also scored a crucial 60 off 56 balls in the first ODI in Ranchi last week. That was, however, in a winning cause.
The three-match ODI series is placed on a knife’s edge, with both teams winning one game apiece. The final game is set to be played on Saturday, December 6, at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.
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