KL Rahul admitted after India’s 0-3 defeat at the hands of South Africa in the one-day series that the visitors were not good enough and went wrong in both the batting and bowling department. The hosts defeated the Men in Blue by four runs in the final ODI.
Deepak Chahar played a brilliant knock of 54 in 34 balls to give India hope. However, in the end, he failed to take India over the line. Before the one-dayers, India conceded the Test series 1-2 despite taking the lead in the 1st Test.
KL Rahul: Shot Selection Poor And India Played Well In Patches
Deepak Chahar smashed 54 off 34 balls with two sixes and five fours but India fell short by four runs to be whitewashed 3-0 in the ODI series by hosts South Africa. Chasing 288 to win, Deepak Chahar’s second ODI fifty got Team India within 10 runs of victory but the all-rounder’s dismissal off the first ball of 48th over derailed the chase.
Reflecting on the ODI series loss, KL Rahul conceded at the post-match presentation ceremony, “Quite obvious where we’ve gone wrong. No shying away from it. At times our shot selection has been poor. Even with the ball we haven’t been hitting the right areas consistently. Have played well in patches but haven’t built pressure over a long period.”
The 29-year-old, however, stated that he wouldn’t fault the boys for their passion and effort. KL Rahul pointed out that there are some new names in the team and, in the ODIs, sometimes, they keep repeating the same mistakes. Asked how the defeat will affect India’s World Cup plans, KL Rahul said that it is early in the journey to the ODI World Cup, slated in 2023.
KL Rahul explained, “We can go back, have some hard conversations. Have had a great time in South Africa. Have been looked after really well. We’ve shown a lot of fight.”
Talking about Sunday’s loss, the captain praised Chahar’s effort and said that he gave the team real hope. “Deepak gave us a real chance of winning the game. Quite an exciting game, just disappointed we ended up on the losing side. We gave ourselves a real chance, something we can learn from and get better,” the stand-in skipper KL Rahul said.
South Africa’s win was built around Proteas opener keeper Quinton de Kock’s 130-ball 124 after the hosts were sent into bat. He was well supported by Rassie van der Dussen, who made 52 off 59 balls. Quinton de Kock was named player of the match as well as the series.
Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, And Deepak Chahar’s Efforts Went In Vain
Half-centuries by Virat Kohli (65), Shikhar Dhawan (61), and Deepak Chahar (54) went in vain as India suffered a heartbreaking four-run loss against South Africa in the third and final ODI at Newlands, Cape Town.
South Africa’s clean sweep over India in the ODIs was completed on the back of a chanceless century from Quinton de Kock and a chancy but classy half-century from Rassie van der Dussen, which carried the hosts to 287 despite a late collapse of 7 for 73.
