Captain KL Rahul lucky for Virat Kohli, the batter? Numbers suggest an interesting pattern after Ranchi ton
Virat Kohli blazed away to his 52nd ODI century and 83rd overall in the first ODI against South Africa in Ranchi and laid the foundation of India's win. The series opener was also a welcome return to captaincy for KL Rahul, who last led the Indian team in December 2023.
Virat Kohli smashed his 52nd century in one-day internationals and 83rd overall as India began the three-match series against South Africa on a winning note in Ranchi on Sunday, November 30. Kohli, who scored an unbeaten 74 in the series finale against Australia in October, continued in the home assignment from where he left off Down Under and looked in sublime touch, hitting spinners and fast bowlers equally with aplomb and propelling India to a defendable first-innings score after losing the toss.
Captain KL Rahul also scored a quickfire 60, after Rohit Sharma had begun with a nice half-century, as 349 eventually proved to be enough for India, even though the Proteas did push the hosts to the final over of the match, with Marco Jansen and Corbin Bosch not going down easily. This was the ninth win for KL Rahul as captain in ODIs and his winning percentage went up to 69.23, having led the side in 13 games, which is the best for any Indian captain in the format to have led the side in a minimum of 10 matches.
Kohli's numbers better under Rahul than Dhoni, Rohit
Not just India's one-day performance, Kohli as a batter, too, has flourished under KL Rahul, the captain. This was Kohli's third international century across formats when Rahul was captain, including his only T20I century against Afghanistan during the 2022 Asia Cup. Kohli averages 66.37 under Rahul's captaincy, having scored 531 runs in 10 innings, including five in ODIs, four in Tests and the lone remaining one in the T20Is.
These are the best numbers for Kohli playing under another captain in terms of averages, having played a minimum of 10 innings. Under MS Dhoni, Kohli scored 9,280 runs in 225 innings, while averaging 49.10. While with Rohit Sharma as captain, Kohli aggregated 3,682 runs in 101 innings, averaging 41.37 across formats.
Rahul might be captain for just this series due to the unavailability of both Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer due to their respective injuries; however, Kohli would want to continue that record, especially with the form he is in. Rahul, too, will be keen to win the series as captain and get the job done on Wednesday itself in Raipur when India lock horns with the Proteas in the second game.
South Africa didn't get might things wrong, but they will rue the top-order collapse during the run-chase, as despite being 3/11 at one point, the Proteas managed to score 332 in a 350-run chase and will be keep the visitors in good stead ahead of the next couple of games.