India’s stand-in captain Rishabh Pant said the team has to have a ‘clear mindset’ and ‘focus on our own plan’ as they succumbed to a 408-run defeat to South Africa in the Guwahati Test on Wednesday, and losing the series 2-0.
India suffered their largest defeat by runs and lost a series at home in consecutive years only for the third time. For South Africa, meanwhile, it was the second-best victory margin.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Pant — who was leading the side in the absence of an injured Shubman Gill — said: “Definitely it’s a little disappointing. As a team we need to get better. Credit to the opposition that they played better cricket than us. Definitely, they dominated the series. We are playing at home but we need to be clear with our mindset. In the future, we are going to be better.”
He said the positive was ‘focussing on our own plan and getting better at it.”
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said the series win — their first in India after 25 years — answers ‘some questions that were posed to us as a group’.
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“It’s massive. It’s not everyday when you get to think that you can come to India and walk away with a 2-0 series win. What makes it sweeter for some of us in the group is that we have been on the other side of the result so we know how tough it can be. For this group of gentlemen, it’s another incredible achievement. It probably answers some questions that were posed to us as a group,” Bavuma said.
South Africa opener Aiden Markram said he was ‘bloody proud of the team’ and that they came to the subcontinent without any ‘preconceived ideas about conditions’.
Asked about their preparation in the build-up to the tour to India, Markram said: “I think a lot of it was not preconceived ideas about conditions. As a unit, we’ve been pretty good in finding ways to get into the game and play decent cricket in whichever conditions we can find ourselves in and that was probably the biggest challenge for us this tour.”
ALSO READ | India lose to South Africa by 408 runs, marking heaviest Test defeat by runs margin
Markram said there was a ‘lot of chat about spin and quality seamers with the new ball’ in the Indian squad. “(But) you don’t want to sort of have any demons in your mind before you’ve even faced the ball or bowl the ball so yeah really proud of the group. It’s a big test of character coming and winning,” he told the broadcasters JioHotstar after the match.
Markram also hailed the two spinners, Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj, who picked eight wickets between them in the second innings to bowl India out for 140 after setting a target of 549. Harmer, who took 17 wickets across the two Tests, was named the Player of the Series.
“It’s huge (to have them), obviously spinning the ball different ways, one being left-arm off the other being off it. That helps in conditions like this. As you would have seen, as the Test match goes on the ball spinning in is as much of a challenge and the two of them are getting into the rough that’s created over the few days, they ask them some really big questions,” Markram said.
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