Team India had arrived in South Africa with great expectations, especially after the kind of form they have had since the restart of the game in the pandemic era. They had started, too, with a bang in the first Test, but then the train got derailed and lost the next two Tests and then were white-washed 3-0 in the ODI series.
India ringed in four changes for the third ODI, a dead rubber. They managed to take the game really close, into the last over, but once again the final outcome went in the opposition’s favour. A 4-run loss in Cape Town concluded India’s tour of what could have been.
“Quite an exciting game, just disappointed we ended up on the losing side. We gave ourselves a real chance, something we can learn from and get better. Quite obvious where we’ve gone wrong. No shying away from it. At times our shot selection has been poor. Even with the ball we haven’t been hitting the right areas consistently. Have played well in patches but haven’t built pressure over a long period,” said captain KL Rahul, after becoming India’s first ODI skipper to lose each of his first three ODIs in charge.
India had started much better with the ball than they had most of the time over the past two years with a couple of earl strikes, but allowed the South African batting to flourish with opener Quinton de Kock registering his 17th ODI ton – and 6th versus India – and put up 287 on the board.
In the chase, after losing Rahul early, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli led the way with fifites, before the slow nature of the pitch got them both out. Sandwiched between them was the absolute hara-kiri shot of Rishabh Pant. Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav got starts but neither could go deep in the chase.
Deepak Chahar‘s knock of 54 off 34 balls kept the game alive, and rose the hope of a win from an unlikely position. But once again, the home pacers were smart with their change of pace and elicited false shots from the Indian tailenders.
Indian fans were left furious, frustrated, distressed with the performance in the third ODI and in the series, especially given India started as favourites and South Africa were missing their two star fast bowlers, Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada.
Here are some of the fans’ reactions to India’s loss:
A tour that promised so much but finished in disappointment. Loads to reflect on going into the world cups and the test championship. #SAvIND #TeamIndia
— Daivik Joshi (@djdaivik) January 23, 2022
We have slipped into our habit of the nineties and pre Dada as captain era. We lose games from winning positions and crumble. It will take some effort building from here on. #SAvIND #starsportsindia @StarSportsIndia
— Rajit Desai (@rajitd) January 23, 2022
Captain Calamity SLOWKESH LOLHUL. #SAvIND
— Ashwani Pratap Singh (@Ashwani45singh) January 23, 2022
Rishabh pant’s attitude cost this match for India. Even a 50 strike rate partnership must have helped India home #SAvIND
— Ezhil Thalapathi (@EzhilThalapathi) January 23, 2022
Disastrous tour for India. After winning first Test handsomely, team went into a massive slump, losing 5 matches on the trot across two formats. There hasn’t been a poorer performance in years. Hard introspection and harsh decisions needed
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) January 23, 2022
India is yet to win a cricket match in 2022!
Today was their fifth successive loss, across all formats, on this tour in Jan 2022- Test, Test, ODI, ODI, ODI
The last time this happened was in New Zealand in Feb 2020 – ODI, ODI, ODI, Test, Test#IndvSA #INDvsSA #SAvIND #SAvsIND— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) January 23, 2022
Nostalgia merchants wanted India to play like the glorious 90s. Now we are. Hope you like it.#INDvSA #SAvIND
— Bikram (@bikram_k_singh) January 23, 2022
QDK against India #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/p8Cl35y59O
— ??????? ?? (@itsmeSehrish) January 23, 2022
Outcome of #INDvSA ODI series.#INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/IIbLmnTlY8
— ViQi (@iamViQiii) January 23, 2022
No Ruturaj Gaikwad
KL Rahul still playing as an opener
Deepak Chahar over Siraj“New Era” pic.twitter.com/RbsurX9kmI
— Hemant (@Sportscasmm) January 23, 2022
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