India has suffered a 0-3 defeat to South Africa in the ODI series. India's poor tour of South Africa has come to an end, winning just a Test. Rahul Dravid points out where it went wrong.
It has been a dreadful tour to South Africa for India. On Sunday, it suffered a close four-run defeat in the final One-Day International (ODI) at the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town. As a result, India has lost the ODI series 0-3, while India has finished 1-5 in the tour, winning just a match (Centurion Test). In the meantime, Team India head coach Rahul Dravid has pointed out the areas where the side went wrong.
Speaking during the post-match press conference, Dravid judged that the poor shot selection let India down, besides admitting that the tour was an eye-opener for the side. He also rued the missed scoring chances in the middle overs and suggested that playing with a slightly aggressive mindset in the same could be of some help. Also, he felt that the lack of some players led to the middle-order misfiring.
"We certainly could do better in the middle overs. We understand the template, and a large part of that template depends on your squad's balance. Some of the guys who help us balance out the squad and give us those all-round options at No. 6, 7 and 8 were not available for the selection. Hopefully, when they come back, it will give us a little more depth, which will allow us to play in a slightly different style," Dravid measured, reports ESPNCricinfo.
Dravid also suggested that the team be consistent in picking up wickets in the middle overs, as it led South Africa to build a strong innings. "I think through the middle overs, we need to improve our wicket-taking options probably. Spinners play a big role in that, but also, with the quicks coming back and the kinds of balls we bowl, we have discussed that. We do understand that's an area in the game we have been behind a little bit the ability to take wickets through the middle overs and what we need to do about that," he added.
Dravid also asserted that the management intended to give the middle-order batters a longer run. "That was the whole idea even on this trip. As you see, we didn't change the middle order, except Surya[kumar Yadav] got a chance in the last match. Otherwise, we didn't change the batting order at all. So, we want to give them that consistent run and that security. Once you give people that, then you also got to demand performances and tremendous performances because that's an expectation when you play at this level for your country," he concluded.