IND vs SA: Umpire says 'try to be quicker KL,' skipper Rahul apologises; WATCH

Indian cricketer KL Rahul made headlines twice on Monday on Day 1 of the India vs South Africa, second Test match firstly by becoming the 34th Indian skipper to lead the squad in the Test format and later by scoring a half-century before walking back to the pavilion. In the meantime, Rahul was also seen getting a warning from umpire Marias Erasmus, during the initial stage of the day’s play. In the fifth over of the first innings, Rahul belatedly pulled out of a delivery being bowled by Proteas pacer Kagiso Rabada.

As Rabada looked to bowl the third delivery of the over, he had to stop his run-up on the last second as Rahul pulled out. As he apologized to Rabada for pulling out in the last second, Umpire Erasmus warned Rahul by saying,” Just try and be a little quicker please KL”. Replying to the umpire, Rahul said, “Sorry” and got ready to face the delivery. 

Watch the video of KL Rahul apologizing-

What happened on the Day 1 of the Johannesburg Test?

Meanwhile, Rahul continued to hold one end of the crease while his opening partner Mayank Agarwal was dismissed by Marco Jansen on an individual score of 26 runs. The experienced Indian pair of Cheteswar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were dismissed on successive deliveries by Duanne Olivier before Rahul added 42 runs for the fourth wicket partnership alongside Hanuma Vihari. On one hand, Vihari was dismissed on 20 runs by Rabada meanwhile Rahul went on to score his half-century.

He returned to the pavilion after scoring 50 runs off 133 balls before Ravichandran Ashwin added 46 runs off 50 balls and helped India take their first innings score to 202 after losing all wickets. Jansen picked up the maximum of four wickets for the Proteas, while Rabada and Olivier returned with three wickets each. After restricting India at 202 runs, South Africa found themselves at 35/1 after playing 18 overs in their first innings. Aiden Markram was dismissed on seven runs by Mohammed Shami, while skipper Dean Elgar and Keegan Peterson continue to bat it out at the middle.

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