India Treated Rest Of The Games As New Series After Losing First Two ODIs: KL Rahul

Dec 9, 2020 at 4:28 PM

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India Treated Rest Of The Games As New Series After Losing First Two ODIs: KL Rahul

KL Rahul, the newly appointed limited-overs vice-captain with Rohit Sharma out injured, revealed the secret behind India’s strong comeback in the last ODI and then taking an unassailable lead of 2-0 in three-match T20I series.

He said that after India lost the first two matches of the ODI series, the visitors treated the remaining matches as a new series.

KL Rahul.
KL Rahul. Image Credit: Twitter.

KL Rahul: India Treated Rest Of 4 Games As New Series After Losing First 2 ODIs

KL Rahul termed the recently concluded limited over series comprising of 3 ODIs as many T20Is was a challenging experience as India were tested in every aspect of the game by the mighty Australians without key players like David Warner who was injured and Pat Cummins who was rested.

“It’s never easy coming to Australia and losing two games and having to make a comeback,” said KL Rahul, who besides keeping wickets also donned the hat of the vice-captain in the series in the absence of injured Rohit Sharma.

KL Rahul.
KL Rahul. Image Credit: Twitter.

“What we spoke after the first two one-dayers was that we are going to treat rest of the four games as a new series and try and win those four games. This ODI and T20s has been a learning curve for all of us. We were challenged in every game and it was important that we stick together as a group and keep believing in each other. We hope that we can improve and keep getting better as individuals and also a team,” he said in a video posted on BCCI’s twitter handle.

India made a disappointing start to the Australian tour, losing the first two ODIs before bouncing back to win the last game. Virat Kohli led India then continued the momentum by winning the three-match T20I series 2-1. KL Rahul scored 93 runs in 3 ODIs and 81 runs in 3 T20Is.

Hardik Pandya Dedicates Win To Agastya And Credited T Natarajan For Success

Hardik Pandya, who played mostly as a specialist batsman, excelled with the bat in both ODI and T20I and was declared player-of-the-series in T20Is, dedicated the award to his son Agastya, who was born in July 2020. Hardik Pandya scored 210 runs in ODI series and played some cameo knocks in T20I series accumulating 78 runs.

“I would like to dedicate this award to my son and my family back home because they have been a great support to me throughout,” he said.

“It has been an absolute team performance. I am happy to see that we have won the series where we haven’t seen any individual brilliance. Multiple people stepping up in different situations.”

Hardik Pandya was all praise for left-arm seamer T Natarajan, who debuted for India in the third ODI at Canberra. T Natarajan was highest wicket-taker in T20Is with 7 scalps in 3 games averaging a meagre 13.83 in debut appearance.

“Special mention of Natarajan as well. Coming from that kind of background, seen a lot of hardships. It has been a fantastic journey, lots of inspiration people can get from him. His success shows anyone can achieve anything if you believe in yourself,” he said.

Hardik Pandya With Agastya
Hardik Pandya With Agastya

Washington Sundar, Sanju Samson and Manish Pandey, who will return to India as the tour now moves to the four-Test series starting December 17 in Adelaide, expressed happiness on finishing their tour on a winning note.

“I really wanted do well in a country like Australia. Winning two games against them is a good thing, especially we didn’t really start well in the ODI series. But we came well in the third ODI and T20s and I am very happy we have won the series,” Sundar said.

Sanju Samson said it was tough to stay away from home for so long and be in a bubble for the first time, but everyone showed a lot of heart by performing up to expectations after a challenging IPL at UAE.

“We fought back really well after the two ODI losses. Great heart shown by everyone, the way we came back. Everyone is performing, everyone is in a great mindset after the challenging IPL. Everyone is two-and-half months out of their homes, spending time in the bubble and coming here I think it’s really challenging.”

Manish Pandey had special words of appreciation for performers with bat and ball Hardik Pandya and T Natarajan for their efforts. He said the players were proud to go back home on a winning note having won T20I series.

“They (Australia) were playing really well in the One-Day series but we came back well in the T20s. The guys have done really well, specially man-of-the-series Hardik and Natarajan. Really proud to go back on a winning note from here,” he said.

Sanju Samson scored 48 in 3 games, and Washington Sundar picked two scalps in three games.

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