Indian skipper KL Rahul desperately wanted to win the three-match ODI series against South Africa to forget the heartbreaking 2-1 Test series defeat against the Proteas. But after conceding defeats in two back-to-back ODIs, Skipper Rahul has multiple things to worry about.
Ordinary bowling attack
Indian bowling attack seemed pretty ordinary in the ODI series after it managed to pick up just seven wickets in two matches. In the batting unit also, there is not much that would satisfy Indian cricket fans and followers. A terrible middle-order collapse in the first ODI saw the visitors lose 5 wickets after Virat Kohli’s dismissal, within a span of just runs.
All-rounder Shardul Thakur did score a half-century (50 runs off 43 balls) but that was hardly enough as team India lost the first match by 31 runs while chasing a total of 296 runs.
Apart from pacer Jasprit Bumrah and spinner Ravichandran Ashwin not a single Indian bowler succeeded in picking up even a wicket.
But not only team India’s performance but also skipper Rahul’s decisions, were highly criticised after the match. All-rounder Venkatsesh Iyer who was making his ODI debut was not given a chance to bowl a single over in the first ODI.
In the second match, Iyer did get a chance to bowl but could not do much to earn the leader’s faith. The 27-year-old, Madhya Pradesh-born all-rounder bowled 5 overs and conceded 28 runs without bagging a wicket. Bumrah, Thakur and spinner Yuzvendra Chahal picked up a wicket each as South Africa successfully chased down a target of 288 runs losing just 3 wickets with 11 balls remaining.
Changes in team
In a situation like this, when there is not much to play for, Indian team management might give a chance to players like Suryakumar Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Jayant Yadav and others in the third and final ODI of the series that willk taken place on January 23 (Sunday), in Cape Town.
South Africa team on the other hand, will be mighty pleased with their performance. Test team under the leadership of Dean Elgar already had claimed the Test series victory and now ODI skipper Temba Bavuma has been able to lead his side to a remarkable ODI victory as the Proteas will surely be aiming for a whitewash in the ODI series.
