"I've learned so much from MS and Virat; hopefully can use all of that when I captain more games" - KL Rahul

India batter KL Rahul is resigned to the fact that setbacks are part and parcel of leadership, but he is keen to make note of the mistakes and improve along the way. The 29-year-old will lead the side in Rohit Sharma’s absence in the three-match ODI series against South Africa starting tomorrow.

Having not tasted much success in the IPL – a win percentage of 44.44 – KL Rahul couldn’t get his team over the line in the second Test in Johannesburg as the visitors slumped to a seven-wicket defeat. Asked how he analyses his captaincy, Rahul admitted he would look to implement the learnings from MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli in the coming days.

“I take every game as it comes. I am not someone who gets worried or gets too happy – I stay balanced with the results. We did have a great chance in Johannesburg to win the Test match, was a bit unfortunate and I did feel [disappointed]. There were a lot of learnings, no doubt, but like you said, I’ve played under great captains like MS and Virat. So there’s so much I have learned from them and hopefully, I can use all of that when I captain more games for my country.

“I am human, I will make mistakes along the way, but I will learn and I will get better – that’s where my mind is at. And this one-day series is a fresh start again and a new opportunity, and a great opportunity for me to captain the country. So I am really looking forward to it and very excited,” KL Rahul said in response to a Sportskeeda query ahead of the ODI series.

Having lost the Test series 1-2 and Rohit being unable to recover from his hamstring injury in time, Rahul was elevated to the captaincy role for the ODIs while fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah was appointed his deputy.

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“The winning belief that is there in the team is largely because of Virat as a leader” – KL Rahul

Virat Kohli quit Test captaincy with a win percentage of 58.82 (40 wins out of 68)

Ever since Virat Kohli made his Test captaincy relinquishment public on Saturday, his peers have inundated social media with posts stating how the 33-year-old set towering standards for the team and instilled self-belief in every individual.

Echoing similar sentiments, KL Rahul – a contender for the Test captaincy – hailed Kohli as the sole proprietor of Team India’s cutting edge and “winning belief”. He further expressed his ambitions to be a flagbearer of Test cricket and continue winning games overseas.

“Under him, Team India have done some phenomenal things – we’ve won series outside of India, which hadn’t been done before, we’ve gone to every country and won a series. He’s done a lot of things right and he’s already set a standard for all of us and for Team India. For me or for the group, going forward, [the job] is to build on that and we obviously know what it takes for us to be a champion team....When it comes to leadership, Virat had this amazing ability to get the best out of everybody. He pushed everybody and made us believe that we can do special things, so that’s something that I’ve learnt from him and hopefully I can do that with the team as well.

“The things I’ve learnt from Virat Kohli about captaincy, obviously the whole world knows how passionate he is about Test cricket and cricket in general. He has led from the front, he brought about a lot of changes in the team. The winning belief that is there in the team is largely because of Virat as a leader, and he’s made us all believe in ourselves and believe that we can go outside of India and beat any team. So I’d want to continue that and obviously build on it and get better as a team,” KL Rahul explained.

The first two ODIs will be played at Boland Park in Paarl on January 19 and 21, before the teams return to Newlands in Cape Town for the final game of the series on January 23.

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