India captain Virat Kohli walks around the field at the end of the second day of the second Test
Highlight
- Kohli was ruled out of the second Test due to a cramp in his upper back.
- Rahul said that his low score of 202 in the first innings made a big difference in the result.
- South Africa won the second Test by seven wickets to level the series.
Virat Kohli The Test series decider against South Africa is already in the nets and “should be fine”, captain KL Rahul said on Thursday. Captain Kohli was ruled out of the second Test due to a cramp in his upper back. South Africa won the second Test by seven wickets to level the series.
“Virat is feeling better than ever, has been fielding and running in the nets for the past few days and I think he should be fine,” Rahul said in the post-match presentation.
Head coach Rahul Dravid also gave an update on Kohli’s fitness in a media interaction.
“He is looking good and knocking on the nets. He will be good to go for a few seasons in Cape Town,” the coach said.
Rahul also talked about Mohammad Siraj’s hamstring injury which he suffered during the second Test. Despite the injury, Siraj continued to bowl in the match but was far from his best.
“Siraj is feeling better every day. A break for a few days can really help him. But we have quality on our bench too, Ishant and Umesh are waiting. Looking forward to Cape Town. We expected every The game will be competitive. Losses like this are disappointing but we have always been a team that gets hungry after a loss. The credit goes to South Africa for the way they batted.
‘We were 60-70 runs short in the first innings’
With South Africa chasing 240 on a difficult surface, India were the favourites, but the hosts put up a memorable batting performance to register a comfortable victory. Rahul said that his low first innings score of 202 made a huge difference in the outcome of the game.
“We all felt that we can do something special, it was not that easy to achieve 122 (on the fourth day), the pitch was up and down, but like I said, the South African batsmen were really determined and they got the job done. Done. If I had to be really tough, we could have scored 60-70 more runs by winning the toss.”
He also praised Shardul Thakur, who played an all-rounder in the game, including taking seven wickets in the first innings.
Rahul also praised senior batsmen Ajinkya Rahane And Cheteshwar Pujara He scored a crucial 50 in the second innings under extreme pressure.
“He has been a great player for us, he has always worked for the team over the years. He has clearly been under the pump, but in the team we believe that Pujara and Ajinkya are our best middle-order batsmen. We have always Knew they could do something like this. Hopefully it will give them confidence and they can go out and do better in the next Test.”
Some Call It Stupid, Some Call It Brave: On Taking Elgar Body Wars
The South African captain registered a famous victory for his team, winning the match and scoring an unbeaten 96 on the fourth day. On the way he also got hit on the body which stood out in his gritty knock.
“I think the knocks that I take motivate me more to perform. Some would call it stupid and some would call it brave. The big picture is for us to win. We get to have a stable batting line-up. And we had to be very patient. We’ve assigned positions to people we think can play roles and it’s great to see them fulfill it,” said the southpaw.
On the team’s return from a loss in the first match of the series, he said: “Batting and bowling basics don’t end there. We missed the first game. It wasn’t easy to say. We faced tough conditions. A batting line-up. Face as a unit. As a bowling unit, Indians were at the top many times. Huge respect for our bowling unit, they showed a lot of character. With KG (Kagiso Rabada), there was something that happened behind the scenes but we are not going into that. Sometimes KG needs a rocket. Then you could almost feel his intensity and focus, he was in the zone. The moment he has that attitude, wants to bowl and contributes, you have to use it as a captain. It was wonderful to see him on fire.”
Elgar too is keeping his cards close to his chest ahead of the decider of the series.
“I played a home match in Cape Town, I won’t give any details. 1-1, South Africa vs India, I don’t think you could have written a better script than this,” he said.
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