"Captaincy is not KL Rahul's thing" - Fans slam Indian skipper after South Africa reach 296 without any trouble on a slow track

KL Rahul had a mixed day at the office in his maiden game as ODI captain. South Africa managed to put on a competitive target of 297 in the first ODI of the series at Paarl. At 68/3 in the 18th over, the hosts looked to be in trouble. However, the Indian bowlers failed to take advantage of the situation and let things slip.

Temba Bavuma (110) led his side from the front by scoring a patient century and anchored the innings to take South Africa to a decent total on this slowish track.

Middle-order batter Rassie van der Dussen (129*) played the enforcer role to perfection with an aggressive century to complement his skipper's sedate knock. The duo's match-defining partnership of 204 eventually played a pivotal role in the home team reaching 296/4.

Indian vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah (2/53) was the pick of the bowlers for the visitors on an indifferent day for the unit. Making a comeback after four years, Ravichandran Ashwin (1/53) picked up a solitary wicket of opener Quinton de Kock.

---

Follow the live match updates here.

---

Some of KL Rahul's captaincy decisions in the first innings left fans baffled. They felt that Rahul missed a trick by not using Venkatesh Iyer's medium pace when Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen were set and untroubled by other bowlers in the middle overs. Fans vented their frustration over KL Rahul's such decisions by slamming him on Twitter.

---

Bavuma played an anchoring innings and that allowed me to express myself: Rassie van der Dussen

Rassie van der Dussen revealed that Temba Bavuma's responsible innings helped him play his natural game and impose himself on the Indian bowling attack. Speaking at the end of the first innings, Rassie van der Dussen reflected on his crucial partnership with Temba Bavuma and said:

"It feels really good after coming in under a bit of pressure at 60-odd for three. Temba and I first thought of getting a partnership going. We knew if we let their spinners settle, it's going to be a long and tricky day for us. He played an anchoring inning and that allowed me to express myself. For me, in the middle order, it's about upping the intensity."

As the pitch is not easy to bat on, the onus will now be on the experienced top-order batters KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, and Virat Kohli to steer India towards the target in the chase.