Ind vs SA 1st ODI: Salman Butt Compares KL Rahul-Virat Kohli as Captains After India Lose at Paarl

SA vs Ind 1st ODI: Butt believes Rahul is not an out-of-the-box thinker and hence he failed to keep the opposition guessing. 

Paarl: Following the humiliating loss against South Africa in the first ODI at Paarl on Wednesday, India’s interim ODI captain KL Rahul faced flak. Ex-Pakistan opener Salman Butt reckoned that the energy that Virat Kohli brings to the field as a leader was missing. He also felt that the team does not have the same vibe with Rahul as they do with Kohli.

“The energy that Virat brought to the ground as captain was missing. Maybe the team doesn’t have that vibe with KL. The grip and energy of a team that is attached with its captain as well as that unity was missing. KL didn’t have energy,” Butt said on his YouTube channel after India’s 31-run loss.

Butt believes Rahul is not an out-of-the-box thinker and hence he failed to keep the opposition guessing.

“It happens with some people. They have a different vibe when given responsibility and another when they do not have it. He didn’t seem like an out of the box thinker. As a captain, you keep on trying and keep the opposition guessing. These things were not evident in his leadership.”

“It was a nice game. There’s so much to learn. We started off really well, we couldn’t get wickets in the middle. We’ll look to see how we get wickets in the middle overs and stop the opposition. The middle-order couldn’t get going. We were on par for the first 20-25 overs of the game. I thought we would chase it down easily but SA bowled really well and got crucial wickets,” Rahul said at the post-match presentation ceremony.