NEW DELHI: India skipper KL Rahul admired the way Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma can make rivals look “silly” after the seasoned pair produced match shaping knocks against South Africa in the first ODI on Sunday.

Kohli struck his 52nd ODI hundred, a composed 135 off 120 balls, while Rohit chipped in with a fluent 57 as India secured a tense 17 run win over the Proteas to go 1 0 up in the three match series.

“Watching Rohit and Kohli play like that is always fun. They’ve made oppositions look silly and show why they are who they are. I’ve seen this for a long time, it’s a lot more fun to see them around in the dressing room,” said Rahul at the post match presentation.

However, the tight finish did leave him slightly on edge.

“I’d be lying if I said there were no butterflies in my stomach. We’re playing ODI cricket after a while. There’s some expectation.

“But we kept taking wickets and the bowlers stuck to their plans. They pushed us and kept coming hard.”

Rahul on middle order role and young bowlers

The wicketkeeper batter said batting at No. 6 continues to be a learning curve.

“Batting at No. 6 is okay, got to do the job for the team. That’s the role I’ve been given in the last 2 3 series. It’s helping personal development,” he added.

The Bengaluru lad praised Harshit Rana and Kuldeep Yadav for staying composed in a high scoring contest.

“Harshit’s done really well, we knew he has potential. He’s tall and can bowl fast, he can give runs in the back end but he has great potential.

“To get crucial new ball wickets is what we expect. Kuldeep is doing this job, key for us to take wickets,” he noted.

Kuldeep, who picked up four, said he relied on variations to keep the batters uncertain.

“When I came after the first spell, I had a chat with KL. We wanted to attack despite it being tough to bowl as wickets were important.

“I was mixing up the scrambled seam and seam up. Just tried to go back of the length. It was easy to connect off a full length.”

Kuldeep acknowledged that the one ball rule after 34 overs added to the difficulty.

“It was very challenging, the ball was getting really wet. We kept putting dust and asked the umpire for a replacement, that was the plan. We saw a couple of great innings from Bosch and Jansen, as we wanted to get a wicket.

“I bowled a few balls slower through the air, but you can’t just rely on stock balls. You have to mix things up and keep batters guessing. That was my plan.”

South Africa captain Aiden Markram said his side has a few areas to polish for the remaining matches.

“Proud of the chase. Great to watch guys do their thing and never lose belief. All of us were quietly hopeful.

“Top order falling was defining. Still felt like chasing was the best way to win, but the top order fell early. Small bits of pieces to do better,” said Markram.

(With PTI Inputs)