After suffering a crushing 3-0 loss against South Africa, head coach Rahul Dravid on Sunday said the series is a “good eye-opener” for the team but there is still a lot of time before the 2023 ODI World Cup and India will Get better in the near future.
Fifties from Virat Kohli (65), Shikhar Dhawan (61), and Deepak Chahar (54) went in vain as South Africa completed a hat-trick of wins with a four-run victory in a thrilling third and final ODI. 3-0 clean sweep in the series against India in Cape Town on Sunday.
India vs South Africa: full coverage , photos , the schedule , result
“I think this ODI series has been a good eye opener for us. We haven’t played too many ODIs, this is my first stint with the ODI team. Even the team itself has not played a single ODI after the 2019 World Cup. Fortunately, we have got time to go before the 2023 World Cup. Dravid said in the post-match press conference, “So far, there is going to be a lot of cricket in the white-ball format by 2023.”
“This is going to be a good opportunity for us to really reflect and learn and keep getting better. We will be better, no doubt about it.”
Impressed by Deepak Chahar’s batting ability, Dravid said the all-rounder has shown his quality in the limited opportunities he has got and the team would like to give him more consistent runs in the playing XI.
“I mean Deepak Chahar has shown in the opportunities we got with Sri Lanka and well over here, he has some good potential with the bat. We know what he can do with the ball. I’ve seen him in India A as well and I know he can bat really well so that definitely gives us a lot of options.”
“It is good to have people like him and Shardul Thakur, whom we have seen in the last few matches, contribute with the bat as well. So, obviously, having more players like this who can contribute at a lower level definitely makes a huge difference and gives us more options. So, of course, we would like to give Deepak more games along with Shardul and many others who can go ahead in the next year or so and give us depth in the team.”
The head coach also admitted that the team misses Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, who give the much-needed all-rounder options to the team.
“If you are being honest, some of the guys who really help us balance the team and give all-rounders options at 6, 7, and 8 are not available for selection here. When they come back, they will probably give us a little bit more depth which allows us to play in a certain different style,” Dravid said.
get all IPL news and cricket score Here
,