SA vs IND 2018: We Played Like Number One In Both The Tests, Says Ravi Shastri

India’s performance in South Africa has not been the only topic of debate since the series kick-started this month in Cape Town. Team India, led by Ravi Shastri, had arrived in South Africa on the back of two very successful years in the longest format of the game.

Before the ongoing series, India had not lost a Test series under Kohli, winning a record nine consecutive ones including the 3-0 win over the Proteas at home in 2015. But all the past performances counted for little against Faf du Plessis & Co. as India were outplayed in both the games. In the first Tests, they lost the game by 72 runs while chasing 208 while in the second game they were all out for just 151 while chasing 287. But while the batting performances have made many criticise the team, the Indian team management has also been criticised for several other reasons with the decision of not playing warm-up games.

Lack of preparation time hurt the team’s chances:

India head coach Ravi Shastri, on Monday (January 22), finally admitted that warm-up games or more time prior t the start of the series would have made a huge difference.

“In hindsight, I would say, another 10 days of practice here would have made a difference,” he said.

“Unfortunately the schedule was such that you had matches [right before the tour]. But I’m sure henceforth in the future when itineraries are made, that will be taken into account – where you get there couple of weeks earlier and then prepare,” he added.

Played like world number one side:

While the team lost both the games, Shastri insisted that Kohli & Co. played like the world number one Test side but rued the team’s failure to capitalise on the chances.

“They’ve had chances in both Tests but didn’t make the most of it,” he said. “When you believe you have a chance to win, you look forward to a Test match. When you believe you can’t win, you don’t look forward to a Test match. It’s as simple as that.”

Shastri was also quick to point out the positives from the series, singling out the bowling performances in both the games.

“I would rather focus on the 20 wickets we have taken [in both Tests] because that’s given us a chance to win in both games. No one expected our bowlers to fire the way they did and take 20 wickets. I’d rather harp on that. For me that’s the biggest positive that has come out of this tour. If we had batted better, we might have well won. If our top order can fire [at Wanderers], it will be a good Test,” he said.

“We had our moments in both Tests when we looked like the No 1 team, when we bowled out South Africa for 130 [at Newlands], when we closed the gap thanks to Virat’s innings and had them two-down just 30 runs ahead [at Centurion]. Not many teams look half that when they come to India,” he added.

The former India allrounder also rued the three run-out dismissals in the second Test, saying such errors hurt especially when the conditions are tough. Cheteshwar Pujara was run out in either innings in the second innings, along with Hardik Pandya in the first.

“As it is the conditions are tough, so if you are run out on top of that it hurts, there’s no doubt about that,” Shastri said. “You hope that those mistakes don’t happen again because they are, at times, schoolboy errors which have to be rectified. In tough conditions like this where there isn’t much between the two teams, you cannot afford to give away wickets like that. The boys have been told that.”

Meanwhile, the third Test of the series will start on January 24 in Johannesburg.