What happened the last time KL Rahul captained India in a Test match?

KL Rahul will captain India for the second time in Tests when they take on Bangladesh in the first game of the two-match series at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram, starting on Wednesday, December 14.

Rahul will lead India in the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma. The veteran batter suffered a thumb injury during the second ODI in Dhaka and missed the third game of the series. Subsequently, he was advised to rest by the BCCI medical team and thus, will miss the first Test.

Meanwhile, Rahul made his debut as captain during the second Test against South Africa in Johannesburg earlier this year. It wasn't a pleasant start to the leadership role for the Karnataka-born batter as India suffered a seven-wicket defeat.

Rahul, who took over the charge in the absence of the injured Virat Kohli, decided to bat first. While the openers gave India a decent start, a middle-order collapse left the side reeling at 116/5.

Ravichandran Ashwin's (46 off 50) late blitz helped the tourists post 202 runs on the board. South Africa's Marco Jansen picked up four wickets, while Kagiso Rabada and Duanne Olivier scalped three apiece.

KL Rahul scored a fine century in the last test series he played in SA. Why are people surprised that the VC has been named the captain in Rohit’s absence. Cut some slack plz 🙏🏻 #DoddaMathu #CricketTwitter #BANvIND

In response, half-centuries from Keegan Petersen and Temba Bavuma helped the Proteas secure a 27-run first-innings lead. Shardul Thakur was the lone warrior with the ball for the visitors, returning with figures of 7/61.

India came up with a better effort with the bat in the second essay, posting 266 runs on the board and setting a 240-run target. The hosts produced a strong batting performance to chase down the target with seven wickets to spare. Skipper Dean Elgar played a captain's knock, remaining unbeaten on 96 runs off 188 deliveries to take his side home.

With the victory, South Africa leveled the three-match series 1-1. They then won the final game to secure the rubber by a 2-1 margin.

Rahul, who scored 58 runs in the game he captained, will be motivated to put up a better showing as skipper and keep India's unbeaten record in Tests against Bangladesh intact.

India vs Bangladesh squads for 1st Test

What should be India’s pace attack in the 1st Test against Bangladesh? 🤔

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India: KL Rahul (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Kumar, and Jaydev Unadkat.

Bangladesh: Mahmdul Hasan Joy, Najimul Hasan Shanto, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib AL Hasan (C), Liton Das, Yasir Ali Chaudhry, Nurul Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Tajiul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Zakir Hasan, Rejaur Rahman Raja, and Anamul Haque.

Also Read: What happened the last time India played a Test match against Bangladesh