'Quite obvious where we've gone wrong': KL Rahul on India's series whitewash against SA
After former captain Virat Kohli (65) departed, only the fighting 54 from Deepak Chahar got India within touching distance in 3rd ODI against SA.
Skipper KL Rahul rued the side's shot selection but added that the bunch can learn from its mistakes after India suffered a narrow four-run win against South Africa in the third and final ODI at Cape Town, also losing the series 3-0.
Chasing 288 for the win, Deepak Chahar scored a fine 54 from 33 balls to get India close to the finish line but they lost their last three wickets for the addition of five runs, falling marginally short of the target to fold for 283. Rahul praised Deepak for his batting display towards the end, and made no bones about the fact that his side played well only in patches.
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"Deepak gave us a real chance of winning the game. Quite an exciting game, just disappointed we ended up on the losing side. We gave ourselves a real chance, something we can learn from and get better. Quite obvious where we've gone wrong. No shying away from it. At times our shot selection has been poor," Rahul said in the post-match presentation.
When former captain Virat Kohli (65) departed, only the fighting 54 from Chahar got India within touching distance.
"Even with the ball we haven't been hitting the right areas consistently. Have played well in patches but haven't built pressure over a long period. Can't fault the boys for the passion and effort. In terms of skill and understanding the situation - sometimes we've gone wrong. But it happens - we've got some new guys in the team," he further said.
It was the fifth instance of Indians getting whitewashed in a three-game ODI series as Rahul became the first India skipper to lose each of the first three ODIs in charge. The Indian camp has had a disastrous start this year, failing to register a single win in their first five international matches. The last time India lost all their first five international matches in a calendar year was in 2000.
On the team's roadmap to next year's ODI World Cup, Rahul said, "It's early in our journey to the World Cup. We can go back, have some hard conversations. Have had a great time in SA. Have been looked after really well. We've shown a lot of fight.