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“We handled pressure…”: KL Rahul credits Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep for India’s series win

Aakash Saini

Kuldeep Yadav and KL Rahul [Source: @BCCI, @CricCrazyJohns/x]Kuldeep Yadav and KL Rahul [Source: @BCCI, @CricCrazyJohns/x]

Team India walloped South Africa by nine wickets in the third ODI in Vizag to clinch the three-match series 2-1. Chasing 271 for a win, a century from unbeaten opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and half-centuries from senior men Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli ensured Team India mowed down South Africa’s total with more than 10 overs to spare.

As one can expect, Indian captain KL Rahul was all smiles after the comprehensive result, and he credited fast bowler Prasidh Krishna and ace spinner Kuldeep Yadav for tilting the tide of the game in India’s favour during the South African innings.

KL Rahul reveals ‘turning point’ of the match

While speaking during the post-match presentation ceremony, Indian captain KL Rahul praised fast bowler Prasidh Krishna and ace spinner Kuldeep Yadav for hampering South Africa’s run flow with crucial wickets throughout the second half of the visitor’s innings. He said:

“With teams like South Africa who go really hard, it can easily become a 380-400 game, or they can end up playing one shot too many. We managed to squeeze well in the middle overs – Prasidh Krishna coming back with that spell and picking two or three was massive, and then Kuldeep getting two in one over really shifted the game.”

KL Rahul also believes that the wicket of centurion and well-set opener Quinton de Kock by Prasidh Krishna tilted the tide of the game. He added:

“In ODI cricket, that’s the only real way to stop momentum, and you have to take wickets. Quinton de Kock was definitely a huge wicket. The way he was batting - when he got out, he was already past 100, and it showed how tough the wicket was for new batters coming in. Removing him at that stage really opened the door for us.”

KL Rahul also hailed his team’s fighting spirit throughout the three games, considering South African batters regularly tried putting India on the “back foot” with belligerent batting. He concluded:

“What makes me happiest about this series is how we handled pressure. In all three games, their batters walked in with intent and tried to put us on the back foot, but the way our bowlers kept their nerve and stuck to their plans was outstanding. One result didn’t go our way earlier, but we still believed in the processes, and today everything came together. So yeah, really pleased with the effort and happy things fell into place, including the toss.”

KL Rahul was asked to step in as India skipper after Shubman Gill was ruled out of the series owing to his neck spasm. Apart from guiding Team India to a series win, Rahul also scored a match-winning 60 in the first ODI last week in Ranchi.

Team India will now face South Africa in a series of five T20Is starting from December 9 onwards.