In the final ODI against South Africa that was played on January 23 (Sunday), in Cape Town, team India had to concede defeat but India’s Deepak Chahar played a terrific innings of 54 runs off 34 balls and kept his side's chances of winning the game alive. But in the 48th over South Africa pacer Lungi Ngidi dismissed Chahar and Indian team lost the match eventually by 4 runs.
While talking about Chahar’s performance, India head coach Rahul Dravid said that Indian team management would want to give him “more games.” Dravid also feels that Chahar’s availability is good for the team as it gives them “a lot more options.”
Dravid's words
“It is nice to have people like him and Shardul Thakur as well, who we have seen in the last couple of games, contribute with the bat as well. So, obviously, the more and more players like this who can contribute lower down, certainly makes a big difference and give us more options. So, certainly we would like to give Deepak more games along with Shardul and lot of other people who can step up in the course of next year or so and give us depth in the side," Dravid said during a post-match interaction with the media.
“I mean Deepak Chahar has shown in the opportunities he has gotten with us in Sri Lanka and over here well, he has got some really good ability with the bat. We know what he can do with the ball as well. I have seen him at India A as well and I know he can bat really well so certainly gives us a lot more options,” the head coach added.
ODI series defeat
Indian team had to suffer a 3-0 defeat in the ODI series and Dravid thinks that this series has been “a good eye-opener” for them as the team have not “played many ODIs after the 2019 World Cup.”
“I think this ODI series has been a good eye-opener for us. We have not played a lot of ODIs, this has been my first stint with the ODI side. Even the team itself has not played many ODIs after the 2019 World Cup. Luckily, we have got time to go before the 2023 World Cup. It is going to be a lot of cricket in white-ball format till 2023," the 49-year-old head coach said.
Lack of balance
While talking about the all-rounders, Dravid said that the team did miss some players who help to balance the squad. He also felt that the team will have more depth when Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja will be back to the team.
“I think if you are a little bit honest, some of the guys who help us balance the squad out and give us those all-round options at Nos 6, 7 and 8 are probably not here, and available for selection,” Dravid said.
“Hopefully, when they (Hardik and Jadeja) come back, it will give us lot more depth, it allows us then to probably play in a slightly different style,” Dravid said.
