India could have easily win the match with 358 runs on the scoreboard. In reality it was the South Africa cricket team who won the natch. Why India lost the game despite posting a solid total?
KL Rahul said this after the match
After the match, stand in captain KL Rahul said that the toss was important for India’s defeat despite scoring 358 runs. Is it difficult to digest this defeat? In response to this question, he said that not really, especially considering how much dew is there and how difficult it is to bowl in the second innings. The umpire changed the ball a few times, but still the toss plays a big role.
He said, “I’m beating myself up after losing two consecutive tosses. There are always things we could have done better. I know 350 feels good, but even after the last match , the discussion in the dressing room was how we could score an extra 20-25 runs to give the bowlers some support when bowling with a wet ball. The bowlers are trying their best, but there’s still room for improvement. We also gave away some easy runs in the field.”
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Rahul further said that if we focus on all three aspects of the game and become a little more sharp, then perhaps those 20-25 runs would have gone in our favor.
“It was great to see the way Rutu batted. We have seen Virat score centuries 53 times. He keeps doing his job, we are used to seeing that. Rutu faced the spinners, bowled to his gaps. Once he crossed 50, the tempo at which he batted gave us an extra 20 runs. If the lower order had contributed a little more and hit a few more boundaries, perhaps those 20 more runs would have been something we would have been happy with”, Rahul said.
“Today I came in at number 5. Virat and Rutu had set the pace. Gambhir bhai and I felt it was the right time for me to come in and continue that pace. I had scored a fifty in the last game. I was feeling confident, so it was better to come in at number 5.”