"Every time you come to bat, they play this song" - KL Rahul to Keshav Maharaj when Ram Siya Ram song was played during 3rd IND vs SA ODI
Team India stand-in captain KL Rahul had a light exchange with South African player Keshav Maharaj during the second innings of the 3rd ODI on Thursday (December 21) at Boland Park in Paarl.
Keshav Maharaj walked in to bat in the 34th over after South Africa lost their sixth wicket in the form of Wiaan Mulder (1). As he was taking guard to face the bowler, the 'Ram Siya Ram' song from the Indian movie Adipurush could be heard playing at the stadium.
KL Rahul, who was keeping the wickets behind Maharaj, said:
“Keshav Bhai... Every time they play this song (Ram Siya Ram) when you come to crease”
Keshav Maharaj instantly replied to KL Rahul with a smile, saying:
“Yes”.
KL Rahul becomes second Indian captain after Virat Kohli to win an ODI series in South Africa
Team India beat South Africa comfortably by 78 runs to win the three-match series by a 2-1 margin.
After being asked to bat first, India made 296/8 in 50 overs on the back of notable contributions from Sanju Samson (108), Tilak Varma (52), and Rinku Singh (38). South Africa then got off to a good start and reached a comfortable position of 141/2 in the 26th over.
Washington Sundar (2/38) dismissed the host team captain, Aiden Markram, in that over to open up the game for the Men in Blue. Arshdeep Singh (4/30) then dismissed a well-set Tony de Zorzi (81) to give the visitors a massive breakthrough.
South Africa lost their way in the chase after that and lost wickets at regular intervals, getting bundled out for 218 in 45.5 overs. Courtesy of the win, KL Rahul is now only the second Indian captain to win an ODI series on South African soil. Virat Kohli achieved the feat in 2018, guiding the side to a 4-1 win in the five match series.
The Proteas skipper Aiden Markram reflected on the loss at a post-match presentation, saying:
"We were up for it. It's great to play the series decider in front of a good crowd but unfortunately not our best skills on display. We were there in small patches but failed to stretch those to get a firm grip on the game and get momentum on our side."
Markram added:
"We will reflect on this in the break as we don't play a white-ball series now for some time. The surface didn't change much throughout and I thought 290 was chaseable. I backed our batting unit to chase it but things didn't go in our way. I am not sure the toss played a massive factor today."
The two teams will next face off in the two-match Test series, which commences on Boxing Day in Centurion.