KL Rahul, Team India’s stand-in captain for the Chattogram Test against Bangladesh, has stated that he is pleased to have a win as a leader under his belt after a failed previous attempt.
The 30-year-old captained the team in the first Test against Bangladesh after Rohit Sharma was ruled out due to a thumb injury. The visitors registered a 188-run win to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
The triumph marked Rahul’s first victory as Test captain on his second attempt. He had previously led the team in the Johannesburg Test against South Africa earlier this year. India lost the Test by seven wickets. The right-handed batter has also captained India in seven ODIs, of which India have won four – three against Zimbabwe and one against Bangladesh.
Reflecting on his first Test win as captain, Rahul said in a video posted on bcci.tv:
“Feels good now that the game is over that I have a victory as a captain. I would have wanted my first game (as captain) to also start off with a win, but unfortunately that didn’t happen. Happy that we played good cricket. To get this win was really important for us.
“Like anyone else, the first victory is sweet and happy and hopefully we can build on this. Focus will be on the next game now and trying to win the series.”
After the Test loss to South Africa, Rahul also led India in the three-match ODI series as Rohit was unavailable. The Proteas ended up blanking the Men in Blue 3-0.
“Really happy that he could get his first hundred” – Rahul on Shubman Gill
The Chattogram Test also saw young opener Shubman Gill notching up his maiden Test hundred. The right-handed batter scored 110 off 152 balls in the second innings. Praising Gill over his impressive knock, Rahul commented:
“First Test hundred for Shubman and really happy that he could get this. He’s batted really well and he’s got close to that first hundred a few times, but he has missed out and really happy that he could get his first hundred.”
Summing up the victory in the first Test against Bangladesh, the stand-in skipper admitted that it was hard work. He concluded:
“We had to work hard and had to bowl 100-120 overs to get them (Bangladesh) all-out. The pitch was easier to bat, much slower. There was not much in the wicket. We had to work really hard and it was a complete team performance.
“This is what Test cricket is all about. It’s about the grind, about the hard work. The opposition really made us grind for this victory.”
The second Test of the India-Bangladesh series will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka from December 22 to 26.
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