Kuldeep Yadav’s spell during the South African innings in India’s third ODI against them in Visakhapatnam ended with a flurry of LBW appeals and Rohit Sharma couldn’t really hide his bemusement at the spinner walking up biseechingly to captain KL Rahul every time he was turned down by the umpire. It wasn’t too long ago that Rohit himself was at the receiving end of pleas from the bowlers and all of it resulted in some comic scenes, with Kuldeep admitting after the South African innings that he isn’t too good with DRS and need people like Rohit and Rahul to keep him in check.
“In the DRS, I am someone who is very bad and he keeps pulling my leg,” Kuldeep told the broadcasters in the mid-innings break. “If the ball hits the pad, I feel like every ball is a wicket. When you have a former captain … KL has been really good behind the wicket and especially in DRS calls, as a bowler you feel like every not out is out, so you have to have those people around you to guide you to just calm you down.”
Kuldeep Yadav convincing Captain KL Rahul but Rohit Sharma know him very well. 😂 pic.twitter.com/ms0JYpbaUu
— Rohit Sharma Fan (@hitmanfanfollow) December 6, 2025
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The first instance was off the fifth ball of the 43rd over, just two deliveries after Kuldeep had sent back Corbin Bosch with a catch off his own bowling. The ball had spun from a length around middle stump with Kuldeep bowling around the wicket and hit Ngidi flush on the pads. Kuldeep appealed and then seemed to plead Rahul to take the review. Rahul was pretty unconvinced while Rohit, standing beside the stand-in captain at slip, simply asked Kuldeep to walk back to his mark. Some basic lip-reading from the visuals made it look like Rohit was incredulously asking Kuldeep if he thinks anything that hits the pads is out while Rahul could be heard saying on the stump mic: “It’s not even close.”
There was an LBW appeal off the very next ball as well, once again Kuldeep looked pleadingly at Rahul and Rohit simply burst out laughing.