IND VS RSA - 1st ODI, South Africa tour of India, 2025

Virat Kohli | Player of the Match: Today was really nice to kind of get into the game like that. Pitch played decently in the first 20-25 overs before it started to slow down. Was just about staying in the space of enjoyment. Of course when you get a start, you get into the situation, you know what needs to be done. The experience kicks in. I've never been a believer of preparation. All my preparation is mental. As long as my physical levels are up and the mental sharpness is there, then you know it's fine. I took a day off before the game. I'm 37 and need time for recovery. That's how it's always going to be - I'm just playing one form of the game. If you've played 300-odd games and so much cricket, you know when you're hitting balls in practice, you know the reflexes are there and the physical ability is there to bat long. As long as you're hitting the ball well and playing good cricket, it's about physically fit, mentally ready and excited.

KL Rahul | India captain: I'd be lying if I said none at all (any buttlerflies during the chase?). Playing ODI cricket after a while and getting to captain the country again - there is expectation from myself. There was a sense of calm throughout but they pushed us and kept coming hard - it was exciting. Gotta do the job for the team and that's the role given for the last 2-3 series. Good for personal development as well. Keep thinking about the game and trying to get better. It's always fun to watch them (Kohli and Rohit) play like that, play with that freedom, that's what they've done throughout their careers. I've seen this for a long time. For me it's a lot more fun to have them around in the dressing room. Harshit has done really well. Knew he was special the moment he came in the dressing room. He's someone the team has been looking for. Still someone who is developing but has a lot of potential.

Markram | South Africa captain: Really proud. Great to sit in the change room and watch the guys do their thing. Never losing the belief that we can pull off a rabbit from the hat. The top-order failed more than anything else. Knew that there would be some zip with the new ball while chasing. Still felt chasing was the way to go. Just had to ride the storm and we saw what the middle order can do. A couple of moments here and there. Overall really proud of the effort. Got really close and showed a lot of character. Any team would like to bat as deep as possible and that's what they do for us (Jansen and Bosch).

Kuldeep Yadav: (turning point of the game?) Obviously, I mean, when I came after the first spell, and obviously I had a chat with KL, and we were just looking to attack, and obviously it was tough to bowl, but yeah, the mindset was very clear. If they get one wicket here and there, probably we'll be back in the game. So that was the plan at that time. (what is your plan on what delivery to bowl when?) I was mixing up the scramble leg and probably a few balls with the seam up, but trying to bowl with a quicker one, and obviously, just trying to hit back to the back side of the length, because it was easy, if you pitch it up, it was easy to connect the ball. So, yeah, scramble, scramble-seam, scramble-legspin and a Chinaman. (how challenging to bowl with one ball after 34 overs?) I mean, of course, it is very challenging, but yeah, of course, because after 34 overs, both the sides were used to the same ball, and it was really getting wet, but yeah, just applying too much dust on the ball, and probably keep talking to the umpires to change the ball, so that was the plan, but obviously, yeah, I mean, as a wristspinner, if you get one wicket here and there, you are back in the game, and so, yeah, probably, you have seen a couple of great knocks from Marco Jansen and Corbin Bosch. (how did you go on this pitch?) I was trying to mix it up with pace, I bowled few balls slower through the air, make the batsman guessing, but yeah, I mean, you can't just rely on those stock deliveries for a longer period of time, you know, you have to mix it up with variations, and keep the batsman guessing, and yeah, I mean, simple was that, you know, just to bowl wicket to wicket, and mix it up with the variations, so that was my plan, personally, and I thought it was very good. (on the Jansen wicket-taking delivery) Not really, because he was hitting everywhere, and whenever you bowled a good ball, he was going for the big ones as well, sometimes you have to, you get lucky with those deliveries, and obviously, that wicket changed the course of the game, and it actually put us back in the game.

21:52 Local Time, 16:22 GMT, 21:52 IST: South Africa made a good match of it despite their early struggles in the chase. They were 11/3 as Harshit Rana bowled beautifully with the new ball, and then slipped to 130/5. But a blinder of a knock from Marco Jansen along with a steady half-century from Matthew Breetzke brought them right back. Their partnership of 97 came off just 69 balls with Jansen doing most of the heavy lifting before Kuldeep's double-strike gave India some breathing space. But the visitors kept coming hard with Corbin Bosch taking over the mantle. The dew didn't make it easy for the Indian bowlers either. However, they did enough to hold on in the end.

Prasidh to Corbin Bosch, out Caught by Rohit!! Mishit from Bosch and it's all over. The crowd erupts as Rohit takes the catch easily at extra cover. Full in the slot, he looks to swing hard and slices it off the outside half. South Africa fall short by 17 runs after a spirited effort from the lower order. Corbin Bosch c Rohit b Prasidh 67(51) [4s-5 6s-4]

Prasidh to Corbin Bosch, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Prasidh to Corbin Bosch, no run, very full on off, Bosch can't get under it and drills it along the ground to long-on, nicely bowled

Prasidh Krishna [7.0-1-48-0] is back into the attack

So it's come down to the final over. There's an over-rate penalty for India who need to have an extra fielder in the circle.

Arshdeep Singh to Corbin Bosch, 1 run, wide full toss outside off, slaps it to the left of long-off and settles for the single

Two fielders in the deep at point and third man. He'll continue to keep it wide

Arshdeep Singh to Corbin Bosch, no run, another cracking yorker wide of off, Bosch tries squeezing it for a single but it's straight back to Arshdeep

Arshdeep Singh to Corbin Bosch, no run, nails the yorker outside off, some reverse-swing too and it bends further away from Bosch who swings and misses

Arshdeep Singh to Corbin Bosch, no run, full delivery tailing away from off, he tries whipping it through midwicket but doesn't quite middle it. Falls wide of long-on and Bosch doesn't go for the run. Might've gotten two if he had pushed hard

Arshdeep Singh to Corbin Bosch, SIX, this is getting close now. Bosch anticipates the yorker nicely, gets low for the sweep, turns it into a low full toss and it flies over the fine leg boundary. Some smiles on the South African balcony

Arshdeep Singh to Corbin Bosch, 2 runs, good short ball, it's above the right shoulder and Bosch drags the pull away through square leg before getting back for two

Harshit Rana to Ottneil Baartman, no run, very full outside off, Baartman tries pushing forward but gets an inside edge onto pad

Harshit Rana to Corbin Bosch, 1 run, wide yorker outside off, squeezed to sweeper cover

Harshit Rana to Corbin Bosch, SIX, again Harshit goes wide but Bosch manages to fetch it and dump it over long-on. Such a big reach he has. It was on the wide marker and he still got to it fairly comfortably before swinging through the line