SA vs IND: ‘Would look to give Deepak Chahar more games, he has good ability with bat’ says Rahul Dravid;
SA vs IND: Team India head coach Rahul Dravid said that all-rounder Deepak Chahar has showed his quality in limited opportunities. The team would like to give him a more consistent run in the playing XI.
Virat Kohli’s (65), Shikhar Dhawan’s (61), and Deepak Chahar’s (54) half-centuries were in vain as India lost the third and final One-Day International to South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town. The Proteas now have a 3-0 lead in the ODI series.
“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,” said Dravid during a virtual press conference.
“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,” he added.
When asked about the plans for the 2023 World Cup, Dravid said:
“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.”
“It is going to be a good opportunity for us to really reflect and learn and keep getting better. We will get better, there is no doubt that. We certainly good do better with the batting in middle overs, we understand the template and we know a large part of that template is also dependent on the balance of your squad,” he added.
Earlier, Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen scored 124 and 52 runs, respectively. As South Africa amassed 287 runs. Prasidh Krishna returned with three wickets for India.
“If you are honest, some of the guys who can balance the side are out. And are not here available for selection. When they come back, they will probably give us a little more depth. Which allows us to play in a certain different style. Having said that, even South Africa who batted first twice, on two occasions scored only 290 as well,” said Dravid.
“If I look at the 30-over mark in both those games. We should have chased down the target. We did not because we played some poor shots and we did not play smart cricket in critical situations. But having said that, there is a lot we can learn from this series, there is a lot to reflect on and we will get better,” he added.
India will play the West Indies in three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Twenty-20 Internationals (T20Is) next.
(With ANI Inputs)