India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak admitted that the game against South Africa was the worst they have played in the last two years. India were simply outplayed by the Proteas as they suffered a 76-run loss at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Sunday.

Suryakumar Yadav’s team was bowled out for 111 after South Africa posted a par score of 187 runs on the board. India could not deliver with the bat and it led to their downfall in the previous game.

Kotak admitted that batting was clicking as a collective unit in the bilateral series but it hasn’t been the case so far in the T20 World Cup.

“During the bilaterals, the batting was clicking. Last game the batting was concerning. I’m not looking at individual failures. We should take the last game in stride, it’s the worst game we’ve played in two years. Openers haven’t clicked either. It’s fine, I wouldn’t stress too much on it. Not really that concerned,” Sitanshu Kotak said during the pre-match press conference.

Kotak downplayed the suggestion that they struggled to get going on a black soil pitch.

“I don’t think we struggle on black soil. If pitches become slow in T20, batting becomes a struggle. If there’s a collapse, we can’t blame the surface. We have done reasonably well, there isn’t much concern. If you lose a couple of wickets, you have to wait and see how the ball is moving. It’s more about when and how to adapt to the conditions rather than thinking negatively from ball one,” he said.

The Indian coach added there is nothing that the current side can’t do and backed his team to bounce back strongly against Zimbabwe.

“When you go to bed there’s pressure. There’s always anxiety but you learn to deal with it. For a professional part of their life and has to be dealt with positively. If we want to win the World Cup we have to handle the pressure, there’s nothing this team can’t handle,” the coach said.

India will next take on Zimbabwe at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, on Thursday.