Quite obvious where we went wrong, our shot selection has been poor: KL Rahul
Jan 23, 2022
Cape Town [South Africa], January 23 : India stand-in skipper KL Rahul on Sunday said that all-rounder Deepak Chahar gave his side a chance to win the match, and in the end, it is disappointing to not emerge on the right side of the result.
Half-centuries by Virat Kohli (65), Shikhar Dhawan (61), and Deepak Chahar (54) went in vain as India suffered a heartbreaking four-run loss against South Africa in the third and final ODI here at Newlands, Cape Town. With this win, the Proteas won the ODI series 3-0.
"Deepak Chahar 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," said Rahul at the post-match presentation.
"At times our shot selection has been poor. 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 their 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. In the one-day series at times we've kept doing the same mistakes. It's early in our journey to the World Cup. We can go back, have some hard conversations," he added.
Earlier, Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen played knocks of 124 and 52 as South Africa posted 287 runs on the board. For India, Prasidh Krishna returned with three wickets.
India had lost the Test series 1-2 against South Africa as well. After that, Virat Kohli had decided to step down as the Test skipper.
"Have had a great time in SA. Have been looked after really well. We've shown a lot of fight," said Rahul.
India will next lock horns West Indies in three ODIs and three T20Is.