Virat Kohli and Ruturaj Gaikwad’s outstanding batting performance in the second ODI of the series against South Africa in Raipur was praised by former Indian head coach Sanjay Bangar. For the third wicket, the Kohli-Gaikwad combination scored an incredible 195 runs off of just 156 deliveries. Bangar acknowledged that Ruturaj’s flawless innings pace at No. 4 relieved Kohli of some of the burden.
Wednesday’s innings was unique because, after the first 20 runs, Kohli realised that the pitch was so good that, if he didn’t make a mistake, the South African bowlers might not be able to get him out. Things got simpler for him when he had a player like Ruturaj Gaikwad at the other end who was pacing his innings really well,” Bangar said in an interview with Star Sports.
Ruturaj scored more runs than the senior batsman, and Bangar praised Kohli for temporarily stepping aside.
He was grateful to Kohli for playing his own game and not being impacted by the same.
“He took a back seat. He was completely unaffected by Ruturaj Gaikwad’s significant advancement. Whenever he wanted to, he accelerated the pace. In today’s innings, he had a higher strike rate while hitting fewer sixes. “This is amazing,” he continued.
Thanks to centuries from Gaikwad (105 off 83) and Kohli (102 off 93), India reached 358/5 in their 50-over quota. While Ravindra Jadeja stayed undefeated on 24 off 27, standby ODI captain KL Rahul also helped with an undefeated 43-ball 66 to give the batting some late momentum.
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However, Aiden Markram’s magnificent century (110 off 98) and the useful contributions of Temba Bavuma, Matthew Breetzke, and Dewald Brevis overwhelmed the hosts’ batting attempts. Later, Keshav Maharaj and Corbin Bosch maintained their poise to lead the team to victory.
On December 6, the third ODI, which will decide the series, will take place at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam.
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