‘India missed Kohli’s fire’ – Twitter bashes KL Rahul’s captaincy after shock loss

KL Rahul walked out to captain the Indian side in the absence of Virat Kohli in Johannesburg, as the Indian Test skipper was struggling with a back spasm. He became the 34th individual to captain the national side, but the result did not turn out to be very favorable. India lost a Test match at Wanderers for the first time in nearly 3 decades, and the 29-year-old added an unnecessary feather to his cap.

On Day 1 of the second Test, Rahul led by example with a gritty half-century. He showed great temperament and the game seemed well-balanced until the final innings of the game, where the Proteas had to chase 240 runs for a win. This is where he struggled to make his presence felt, and his lack of proactiveness proved to be fatal.

With South African openers counter-attacking, KL Rahul continued with the same field and the team hoped for a false shot from Proteas, but that never happened. The Indian bowlers continued to feed the Proteas with some easy pickings, showing no attempt to pull a trick out of the hat to do something different.

He had just two slips in place for Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Shami, who were the only two bowlers on Day 4 who looked like picking a wicket. The ball flew past a vacant gully/third-slip region a couple of times, making the fans wonder what could’ve been the case.

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The game easily slipped away from the hands towards the end with Temba Bavuma and Elgar finishing things in style. The duo, besides a dropped catch from Shardul off his own bowling, had no trouble dealing with the bowlers or in piercing gaps.

Dean Elgar leads by example

Just when it seemed like a mountain was there to be climbed, the hosts had a monumental knock coming from the bat of skipper Dean Elgar. He chipped in with a pretty chanceless 96 and remained unbeaten, falling just short of what could’ve been a century to talk about for years. He was ably supported by every other batter, who hung in the middle for at least an hour.

But the major talking point for Indian fans was the way KL Rahul captained the side. Although there are some considerate reactions as it was his first Test as captain, not a lot of them were impressed by Kohli’s deputy.

Here’s how fans reacted to KL Rahul and his captaincy