🏏SA vs India, 3rd ODI: Venue: Boland Park, Paarl 🏏 - Page 36

KL Rahul | India captain: Always love being around the boys. Nice to get back on the cricket field after a disappointing world cup. Have played with a lot of them in the IPL, nice to get out here and play with them. Usually my message is to always enjoy the game, to give your best and not worry about the rest. They’re great cricketers but few of them haven’t played internationally so it’s about giving them some time to adjust. It’s about making their roles clear and they all gave their 100% so nothing more I can ask. Sanju has been a phenomenal performer in the IPL, unfortunately hasn’t got a lot of chances at the top of the order for various reasons but nice to see him do well today.

Arshdeep Singh | Player of the Series: There was always something in the wicket throughout the day. Sometimes it was gripping and stopping. The plan was simple, it was to bowl wicket-to-wicket and get LBWs and bowleds. 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 got. We’d love to give our all in the future as well and do well.

Sanju Samson | Player of the Match: Proud of it, specially considering the result as well. Have been working hard, not just for the past couple of months so it’s nice. 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 to expect 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.

So that wraps the ODI series up and now it's time to look ahead to a highly anticipated Test series that starts on the 26th.

Sanju Samson is the Player of the Match for his maiden ODI century. "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."

Arshdeep Singh is the Player of the Series for his 10 wickets. "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."

KL Rahul: 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. Pleased for Sanju, he's been a phenomenal performer in the IPL over the years. 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. Will celebrate with the boys and then switch back to focusing on the Test series in a day or two.

Most ODI wins in a calendar year

30 - Australia in 2003

27 - India in 2023

26 - Australia in 1999

25 - South Africa in 1996

25 - South Africa in 2000

IND vs SA bilateral series results in SA

1992/93: SA won by 5-2

2006/07: SA won by 4-0

2010/11: SA won by 3-2

2013/14: SA won by 2-0

2017/18: IND won by 5-1

2021/22: SA won by 3-0

2023/24: IND won by 2-1

Highest batting strike-rates in a calendar year (min. 900 runs)

140.66 - Heinrich Klaasen (2023)

137.91 - AB de Villiers (2015)

118.22 - Jonny Bairstow (2018)

117.07 - Rohit Sharma (2023)

113.59 - Sanath Jayasuriya (1997)

113.26 - Aiden Markram (2023)

112.66 - David Warner (2023)

112.48 - Sanath Jayasuriya (1996)