Pleased for Sanju Samson, glad he was able to grab his chance here: KL Rahul

Paarl, Dec 22 (IANS) After India won the ODI series with a 78-run win over South Africa in the series decider at Boland Park, captain KL Rahul said he was pleased to see Sanju Samson perform well by scoring his maiden international century despite not getting a lot of chances of playing in the top-order.

Samson, promoted to number three in the batting order, slammed his first century in international cricket via a fine 108, a mix of elegant strokeplay and rotating the strike while not losing his patience. His knock lifted the team to a competitive total of 296/8 in the first innings, and also shared a 116-run stand in 139 balls with Tilak Varma, who made 52, his first ODI fifty.

“Pleased for Sanju, he's been a phenomenal performer in the IPL over the years, and hasn't gotten enough chances for different reasons. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to give him the chance at No. 3, because obviously there are stalwarts in the ODIs who occupy those key spots. Glad he was able to grab his chances here and capitalised on them,” said Rahul after the match ended.

In 2022, Rahul captained the India ODI team which lost 3-0 to South Africa. Now, back in the country, he led the team to 2-1 ODI series triumph. “Love being around the boys, that's how it's been since I came over to South Africa after some time away following a disappointing World Cup final. Will celebrate with the boys and then switch back to focusing on the Test series in a day or two,” he added.

Samson celebrated his maiden international century, which got him the Player of the Match award, by flexing his biceps on reaching the three-figure mark in 110 balls. He later on said that ODIs give him the ample time to build his innings, while praising Tilak for his support act.

"Proud of it, specially considering the result as well. Have been working hard. This format gives you some extra time to understand the wicket and the bowler's mindset. Batting at the top of the order gives you those 10-20 extra deliveries.”

“The whole country is very proud of how Tilak Verma has stepped up, lot more expected from him. The seniors have set the standards of Indian cricket and the juniors are coming in and doing the job. It's not very easy, traveling in between and playing every 2-3 days but they're getting the job done."

In reply, South Africa were comfortably placed at 141/2, before collapsing to 218 all out. While Washington Sundar was superb in his miserly spell of 2-38 in ten overs, Arshdeep Singh stepped up to close out the match by taking 4/30 in his nine overs and became Player of the Series for taking ten wickets in three games.

"The plan was simple, it was to bowl wicket-to-wicket and get lbws and bowled. Sometimes when there isn't anything happening on the wicket, you need some support from the umpires, that's why I had to appeal a lot (laughs).”

“IPL has been a very good platform for us youngsters, there isn't a big gap between IPL and international cricket. You understand the mindset of international cricketers and it helps. We are all loving the chances we've got. We'd love to give our all in the future as well and do well," he concluded.