India lost the final Indore T20I to South Africa on Tuesday but did win the series 2-1. As it prepares to leave for Australia for the ICC T20 World Cup 2022, skipper Rohit Sharma has established that there is still room for improvement.
Even after two identical series wins against "quality sides" Australia and South Africa, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma relented that the Indian side still needs to preach some areas of concern, especially bowling, ahead of the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in Australia from October 16. India defeated South Africa 2-1 in the three-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series despite suffering a 49-run thrashing in the third and final T20I at the Holkar International Stadium in Indore on Tuesday. It had bested Australia by a matching margin in the last series.
"As a team, we said it at the beginning no matter what happens about the result. There's always room for improvement. We want to keep improving even if we do well in all three departments. We have to look at our bowling. What more options can we find in the powerplay, middle and death," Rohit said after the defeat.
"We were playing two quality sides, have to go back and see what better we can do. It will be challenging, and we need to find answers. Still working towards that," added Rohit. He also stated that the players need clarity in what they want to accomplish, and it would be his job to ensure it transpires.
Rohit said since several members of the T20WC-bound squad have not been Down Under, the team would be leaving for Australia premature to acclimatise to the conditions. "Lot of the guys haven't been to Australia, which is why we wanted to go early. Play on some bouncy pitches in Perth and see what we can do there," he explained.
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"Out of the 15, only 7-8 have been there before, so I wanted to make an effort to go there early. We've organised a couple of practice games," continued Rohit. On the absence of pace speargun Jasprit Burmah from the T20WC due to back injury, Rohit declared, "Bumrah is a big miss, but there are a few guys in the reckoning. We'll make the call once we reach Australia."
Suryakumar Yadav, named Player of the Series for his 119 runs, including twin half-centuries in three games, communicated, "Haven't thought about Australia just yet, but it's a challenge I am looking forward to." When asked if he was aware that he had pounded 50 sixes this calendar year, he said, "I'm not a stats man, but my friends keep sending me stuff on WhatsApp."
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South Africa captain Temba Bavuma articulated, "Win like this is significant for our confidence. We can take a lot from this game. If we look back, our batting didn't click in the first game. We didn't adapt to the conditions. In the second game, we had plans that we didn't execute. Today, we clarified the plans and what we were trying to do."
Player of the Match Rilee Rossouw, for his unbeaten 100, voiced, "It's something every cricketer goes through [coming in on the back of a couple of ducks]. I Knew something's special in store. It was special. I'm glad to have been able to contribute."
(With inputs from PTI)