India suffered a seven-wicket loss to South Africa in the second ODI at the Boland Park in Paarl on Friday and subsequently lost the three-match series 0-2. Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, who scored a 71-ball 85 (10×4, 2×6), felt the inconsistent efforts from the Indian spinners went against the visiting team.
Proteas’ left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi (2-57), who also grabbed two wickets in the first ODI, dismissed Pant and Shreyas Iyer (11) on Friday. Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj (1-52) played his role in sending back Virat Kohli for a duck. Even part-time off-spinner Aiden Markram (1-34) bowled eight overs and dismissed in-form opener Shikhar Dhawan (29).
Rishabh Pant
However, this was not the case with the Indian spinners. Offie Ravichandran Ashwin went wicketless, while leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal claimed 1-47 as KL Rahul & Co failed to defend 287-6.
“They [Shamsi, Maharaj and Markram] were a lot more consistent with their lines and lengths. They are also used to playing in such conditions,” Pant said during a post-match virtual press conference on Friday.
“I think we didn’t get wickets in the middle overs, which they [SA] got. That was the main difference in matches; we could have bowled a little better and we could have batted much better in the middle overs. That’s the turning point of the games, I guess,” said Pant, who has scored 630 runs in 20 ODIs.
Pant felt the lack of ODI practice affected the result. “We are playing one-day cricket after a long time. There are a lot of factors that we can talk about. But as a team, we are always looking to improve ourselves. The game tempo makes a difference since we are coming out of Test matches, maybe that could have made a difference.”
The Delhi cricketer supported pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who went wicketless in the first two ODIs and conceded 64 and 67 runs respectively. “I do not think there is much concern over Bhuvi bhai, because we are playing an ODI series after a long time, so we are just getting used to the momentum. We are disappointed to lose the series, but we are looking to learn from our mistakes,” Pant said.
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