New Delhi: Centurion KL Rahul and his Karnataka statemate Manish Pandey were the heroes with willow for India, though in a losing cause against New Zealand in the third and final ODI in Mount Maunganui on Tuesday. However, during their fluent partnership at the crease, what came to the limelight and much to the amusement of cricket fans across India was the way the Karnataka batting pair conversed in Kannada on the field.

During their time in the middle while batting, the Karnataka duo conversed in their state language Kannada and words like "Odi Odi Ba" (come running), "Bartheera" (will you come), "Beda Beda" (no no) and "Ba ba" (come) must have struck a chord for sure with cricket fans in Karnataka.


Rahul was in red hot form in both formats through the series while Pandey also fared well in the T20s and the only ODI he played in place of Kedar Jadhav. Rahul and Pandey shared a 107-run stand for the fifth wicket at a time India needed it the most. While Rahul notched up his 4th ODI ton with a knock of 112, Pandey gave him good support chipping in with

India lost the third and final ODI by five wickets to the Kiwis and succumbed to a 0-3 series sweep after beating the hosts by 5-0 in the T20Is.

Rahul slammed 112 and put on 107 runs with Manish Pandey (42) for the fifth wicket to help India score 296 for seven after being put into bat. Pandey did his schooling in Bengaluru whereas Rahul's family hails from Tumakuru in the state.