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[Watch] KL Rahul responds with a smile to Marco Jansen’s sledge in IND vs SA 1st Test

Indian wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul seemed pretty calm and composed at the crease even as South African speedster Marco Jansen tried to have a heated argument with the former during Day 1 of the first Test between India and South Africa at the SuprSport Park, Centurion on Tuesday (December 26).

Jansen was seemingly trying to get under Rahul's skin and disrupt his concentration by asking him to play his shots. Rahul appeared to say something in return with a smile instead of getting worked up.

Here's the video of the incident:


KL Rahul takes India past 200 on a gruelling Day 1

KL Rahul's selection as the wicketkeeper-batter in the Indian team did raise a few eyebrows, especially since he was dropped from the Test side earlier this year. However, the experienced batter has been nothing short of sensational in his innings of 70* so far at the time of writing.

The visitors were reduced to 24/3 before a 68-run stand between Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli salvaged the innings. Kagiso Rabada bowled an incredible spell just after lunch, sending back both the set batters and also Ravichandran Ashwin.

It looked like the visitors would be bowled out quickly but that wasn't to be as KL Rahul and Shardul Thakur together added a crucial 43 runs that shifted the momentum towards India. Thakur kept playing his shots and Rahul looked in complete control at the other end.

Once the all-rounder was dismissed, Rahul took on the role of the aggressor and didn't let go of any run-scoring opportunity. Mohammed Siraj has managed to hang around with Rahul as India have reached 208/8 with rain stopping play.

South Africa will be feeling the pressure as the ball has been seaming around all day while India will be relieved to be in this position after a shaky start.

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