IND vs SA Test: The first day of the South Africa vs India Boxing Day Test match was in the name of Kagiso Rabada and KL Rahul. South Africa won the toss in Centurion and invited India to bat first. By the end of the first day’s play, India had scored 208 runs for 8 wickets. KL Rahul scored 70 runs while Mohammad Siraj returned not out without opening the account. On the first day of the match, only 59 overs could be played due to rain.
It was quite difficult to face Kagiso Rabada’s balls as it was cloudy and there was grass on the field. Rabada has clinched a fifer conceding 44 runs in 17 overs. Talking about Marco Jansen, he conceded 52 runs in 15 overs and got only one wicket. When KL Rahul targeted Marco Jansen’s balls, the young fast bowler did not like it at all.
In the context of cricket, when two top teams are facing each other in a battle, players are bound to vent their emotions, either by trash-talking or by lashing out at the opposition player. This is a common phenomenon in sports, especially Test cricket.
The game has seen many verbal exchanges between players, often used as a psychological tactic to gain an advantage. The first Test match between South Africa and India at SuperSport Park, Centurion witnessed an incident that caught the attention of the fans.
Interestingly, it was just one player who lost his temper and became more expressive and animated during the play. On the first day of the Centurion Test, South African fast bowler Marco Jansen made headlines after sledding India’s star batsman KL Rahul.
KL Rahul’s golden reply to Marco Jansen’s sled
The drama unfolded during the 45th over of India’s innings when the South African fast bowler lost his temper and hurled some words at the Indian batsman in frustration. This happened when KL Rahul hit consecutive fours on the ball of Marco Jansen a few overs ago and hit a six on the previous ball.
Marco Jansen expressed his frustration by saying a few words about the star Indian batsman. However, KL Rahul replied with a precious smile. In international cricket, KL Rahul has rarely been seen engaging with any bowler on the field. The same video clip caught the attention of the cricket fraternity, with most fans praising KL Rahul for handling the situation in a calm and composed manner.
Talking about the match, Kagiso Rabada performed brilliantly with the ball and registered a fifer. Rabada showed captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Shardul Thakur the way to the pavilion. Apart from KL Rahul, for India, Virat scored 38 runs while Shreyas Iyer scored 31 runs. Shardul Thakur made a helpful contribution of 24 runs.
KL Rahul was the best-performing player from India. He remained unbeaten on 70 runs, in which he hit 10 fours and 2 sixes. The visiting team scored 208/8 in 59 overs, but play was interrupted due to rain, ending the first day’s play.
