In the absence of Rohit Sharma, stand-in captain KL Rahul will open the batting for India in the three-match ODI series against South Africa on Wednesday.
In a press conference on the eve of the first match, KL Rahul said, “The last 14-15 months I have batted at 4, 5, different positions, where the team needed me. With Rohit not being here, I will bat at the top.”
“I’m not someone who has a lot of plans and targets. I like to take one game at a time. That’s how I’ve played my cricket and that’s how I’ll look to lead the team,” he said.
As speculations are on rife over taking captainship, Rahul said he hopes to learn from captains he has played under – Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni.
“Leading the country is always special for anyone and I am no different. Yes, it would be a huge responsibility if given to me (being the Test captain). It is something that is exciting, I am not really looking to anything forward, I am just focusing on the present,”
“The whole world knows how passionate Virat Kohli is about Tests – The winning belief in the current team is largely because of Virat Kohli the captain. We have been a Great white Ball team Under Virat Kohli The Captain. I’ve played under great captains like MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, hopefully, I’ll use the learnings when I captain the team.
“I had not given it a thought till the names came out, till the articles or news have been doing the rounds. Obviously, I had the opportunity to lead the Test side in Johannesburg and it was really special. The result did not go our way but it was a great learning experience for me and it would be something I will always be proud of.”
