"He is batting out of position" - Former India pacer hails Ruturaj Gaikwad's maiden ODI hundred in IND vs SA 2025 2nd ODI 

Former India player Zaheer Khan praised Ruturaj Gaikwad for his sublime hundred despite playing out of position in the second ODI against South Africa in Raipur on Wednesday, December 3. The right-handed batter struck his maiden ODI ton, top-scoring with 105 runs off 83 deliveries to help the hosts post a mammoth 358-5 after being put into bat first.

In the absence of the injured Shreyas Iyer, Team India slotted Ruturaj Gaikwad in the crucial No.4 slot, ahead of the likes of Tilak Varma and Rishabh Pant. The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper scored only eight runs in the first ODI in Ranchi after a stunning one-handed catch by Dewald Brevis.

But in the second ODI, he was at his absolute best and dominated the middle overs with Virat Kohli by his side. He had to deal with Marco Jansen's short ball barrage initially before comfortably negotiating the spinners en route to the three-figure mark.

Zaheer Khan noted how Gaikwad's free-flowing knock allowed Virat Kohli to bat comfortably at the other end.

"He is batting out of position, he must be someone who is batting at No.1, 2, or 3 in Vijay Hazare (Trophy). But he is now at No.4 with the Indian team, which is not an easy position to bat. For him to walk in there, Marco Jansen welcoming him to the crease with a nice steep bouncer, he will be very happy with the innings he has put up. He was the aggressor in that partnership, took pressure off Virat Kohli as well in that phase," Zaheer Khan said on Cricbuzz.

"He is a top, top player of spin bowling. He makes it very difficult for the spinners to contain. Maybe that is one of the reasons why the team management was also trying to push him in the middle order because that is a very crucial position. If you have someone who can play risk free cricket, but yet dominate, that can make it difficult for spin to have that impact in the middle overs," he added.

Ahead of the ODI series against South Africa, Gaikwad had featured as an opener in the three-match unofficial ODI series against South Africa 'A' in Rajkot, where he was among the runs.

"The captain took the responsibility" - Zaheer Khan on KL Rahul's finishing act in IND vs SA 2025 2nd ODI

After the top and the middle order perished ahead of the third powerplay, the onus was once again on KL Rahul to lead India's charge in the back end to propel them to a mammoth score. After his quickfire fifty in the first ODI, he stepped up once more to guide the hosts to a mammoth total.

"Someone needed to finish the innings strong, and the captain took the responsibility of making sure that you get to the total which is an above par one. I think India was always set out to hit 330-350, the platform was set for that. He assessed the conditions well. The management decided to send him up, which is a good, proactive call," the former bowler added.

KL Rahul finished with an unbeaten 66 runs off 43 deliveries, which included six fours and two sixes. His knock came at a strike rate of 153.49 as Ravindra Jadeja also played a handy cameo at the other end.