IND vs SA: KL Rahul does the dirty work for Team India, answers his critics in style

You don't get a pitch favouring the bowlers so much like the one India and South Africa got in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday

The ball moved like a possessed object making the wicket a batters' graveyard. But on a track where South Africa was reduced to 9/5 and top 2 run getters in T20I, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli looked clueless, Rahul kept his cool and didn't let the slow strike rate affect his approach.

A lot has been spoken about KL Rahul's strike rate over the last few months and though the Indian vice-captain had a strike rate of 91 in the 1st T20 vs south, numbers would never do justice to the importance of a 56-ball-51 not out by KL, which is now the slowest ever in T20I history by a player from a Test nation.

At one stage he was batting on 15 off 36 balls but once the juice dried up, KL knew it was his moment to shine. He started playing his shots at the right moment and stitched a match-winning 65-ball-93 run partnership with Suryakumar Yadav.

His knock made sure the men in blue didn't have any more hiccups as it allowed Surya to express himself a lot better.

Despite being criticised for not maintaining a very high strike rate, KL never shies away from doing the dirty work for world's number 1 T20 side

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