CAPE TOWN: India’s head coach
Rahul Dravid on Sunday admitted that his team didn’t play “smart cricket at crucial times” but backed the beleaguered
KL Rahul to get better as a leader in coming days.
India lost both the Test and
ODI series in what turned out to be a disastrous tour of South Africa despite a bright start in the opening Test at Centurion, which the team won comprehensively.
“He did a good job. It’s not easy to end on the wrong side of the result,” Dravid said when asked how he found Rahul as a leader, having lost all four games that he captained on tour.
“He is just starting out and I think he did a very decent job. He will constantly get better as he captains,” the head coach batted for the young skipper.
Dravid felt that “execution of skills” was lacking in all the three ODIs that India lost.
The series, according to Dravid, is a “good eye opener” but there is still a lot of time before the 2023 ODI World Cup, and India should be getting better in the near future.
“This is a good eye opener but we haven’t played a lot of ODI cricket. We last played against England in March (after that second string side played against Lanka under Dravid’s coaching). We will play a lot of white ball cricket before next year’s World Cup.”
Dravid accepted that the Indian ODI team for the series didn’t have the kind of balance required although he agreed that one can try and start looking at the template.
“The guys who play at 6, 7, and 8 weren’t available for selection and when they come back, the side will have a slightly different look,” he said.
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In Pics: De Kock ton leads South Africa to ODI series sweep of India
Show Captions
<p>Quinton de Kock scored a superb century as South Africa completed a clean sweep of their three-match ODI series against India with a four-run victory at Newlands on Sunday. (Gallo Images/Getty Images)</p>
<p>India chose to field and restricted South Africa to 287 all out one ball shy of the 50 overs, but the visitors narrowly failed in their chase as they managed 283 with four balls left in the innings. (ANI Photo)</p>
<p>Deepak Chahar scored a fine 54 from 33 balls to get India close, but they lost their last three wickets for the addition of five runs as the home side bundled out the lower order. (AFP Photo)</p>
<p>De Kock’s 17th ODI century boosted South Africa’s total, his 124 coming from 130 balls and he added 134 for the fourth wicket with Rassie van der Dussen who made a solid 52 from 59 balls. (Reuters Photo)</p>
<p>David Miller weighted in with 39 at the end of the innings, but South Africa may have felt they were 30 runs short having been 214 for three in the 36th over. (Gallo Images/Getty Images)</p>
<p>Prasidh Krishna was the pick of the India attack with 3/59. (Gallo Images/Getty Images)</p>
<p>India were on course in their chase when they reached 116/1 in the 23rd over, but two quick wickets proved a massive setback. (AFP Photo)</p>
<p>Shikhar Dhawan (61) skied a pull shot to wicketkeeper De Kock off seamer Andile Phehlukwayo (2/38), and off his first ball Rishabh Pant tried to launch the same bowler for six but was caught at deep cover. (Gallo Images/Getty Images)</p>
<p>When former captain Virat Kohli (65) departed, only the lively 54 from Chahar got India within touching distance. (Reuters Photo)</p>
<p>Seamers Lungi Ngidi (3/58) and Phehlukwayo (3/40) again impressed for the hosts.</p>
He agreed that till the 30th over in both the chases, they were in the game before some of the batters played poor shots.
“We didn’t play smart cricket at crucial times,” he added.
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