Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Parthiv Patel said KL Rahul will want to turn his captaincy record against South Africa in the upcoming ODI series. As Rohit Sharma has requested rest from the limited-overs leg, Rahul will lead in a three-match series against the Proteas.
Meanwhile, India lost the three-match ODI series against South Africa by 3-0 in their previous tour under the captaincy of KL Rahul. Ergo, Patel said Rahul will want to turn the tables in the forthcoming series.
Rahul scored 452 runs in 10 innings of the ODI World Cup at an average of 75.33 and played a key role in taking India to the final of the showpiece. Thus, the flamboyant batter will aim to continue the good show against the Proteas.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Patel said: “For the players, it is another opportunity to show what they can do, especially for KL Rahul, the captain. He didn’t have that kind of record as captain when he captained India in South Africa last year. He would personally like to turn it around and win the series for India.”
Patel added that ODIs will take the backseat till the T20 World Cup as the team will focus more on the shortest form of the game.
“There is no doubt that ODIs will take a backseat until the T20 World Cup in June,” Patel continued. “But it doesn’t mean that you don’t analyse or judge a player from ODIs. KL Rahul is going to captain the side, and Yuzvendra Chahal is going to try and make a comeback here. Every game is important. It doesn’t matter whether there is a World Cup or not. The selectors would be looking at their performances.”
On the other hand, former Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan added that the players can’t get complacent as they are playing for their country at the International level.
“On these kinds of tours, when you know that the priority is not given, the bad performances always get counted,” Zaheer stated. “That’s the tough part. As a player, you can’t look at a series and say it is an inconsequential series. That doesn’t really happen because it’s an international game and you are playing for your country.”
The second T20I will be played between India and South Africa at St George’s Park, Gqeberha on Tuesday after the first game was called off due to rain.
