Former Indian fast bowler Ashish Nehra believes KL Rahul’s fighting knock against South Africa will give him a lot of confidence for the upcoming matches. Rahul scored a valiant knock of 51 runs off 56 balls at the Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday on a minefield pitch.

It was difficult for the batters to get going on the tough two-paced pitch but Rahul showed all the resistance, which is mostly not seen in the T20I format. Rahul was hit on his body and his hand on a couple of occasions but he was ready to fight it out in the middle after India lost early wickets of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

Rahul took his time in the middle and Suryakumar Yadav was able to take all the pressure off his shoulders as he took an aggressive approach.

After settling in, Rahul was also able to change gears against the South African spinners and scored two fours and four sixes in his fine knock.

Ashish Nehra said on Cricbuzz: “When two of your senior players get out early, then someone needs to handle the innings. Not that KL Rahul was in complete control, his playing style is completely different when compared to Suryakumar Yadav.”

Nehra added: “He escaped a lot of close calls but remained not out, this will give him plenty of confidence. I think it is fine that he took his time because it was not like he was struggling on a flat pitch.”

This is Rahul’s third T20I fifty after his return from injury and this will certainly add a shot to his arm.

Nehra feels Umesh Yadav must have cherished bowling on the deck which was doing a lot with the new ball.

“Seeing this pitch, Umesh Yadav must have also wished to be part of the playing XI. He used to bowl well in the powerplay on flat pitches as well.”

Nehra concluded: “Had he bowled 24 outswingers on a Test match length, he would have troubled the batters a lot.”

India will take on South Africa in the second T20I at Guwahati on Sunday.