India’s pack leader Bhuvneshwar Kumar admitted that it could have been a different result had the team grabbed their chances against South Africa after they lost by five wickets at the Perth Stadium, Perth on Sunday. India posted a sub-par score of 133-9 after Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bat first.
However, India had South Africa on the ropes at 40-3 after the first 10 overs. Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma missed two run-out chances against Aiden Markram whereas Virat Kohli dropped a simple catch to give the right-hander another reprieve.
India was poor in the field and it played a huge role in their loss. The Indian fast bowlers made use of the swing and troubled the Proteas batters with accurate lengths. However, the bowlers didn’t get backing from the fielders.
“Yes if we would have taken those catches, it could have been a different result. Of course, catches win matches, or good fielding help you win matches. So if we would have taken those chances or those run-outs, then things could have been different,” Bhuvneshwar Kumar told reporters at the post-match press conference.
“The catches we dropped or the run-out chances we missed; we knew that if we would have taken those, then things could have been different. But there wasn’t any particular moment where we can say that the momentum shifted towards their side,” the 32-year-old added.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma gave the 18th over to Ravichandran Ashwin, who conceded 13 runs in the over. Ashwin had a poor outing as he conceded 43 runs in his quota of four overs as there was no help from the surface for him.
Kumar revealed why Rohit gave the 18th over to Ashwin, “The general thinking is: if he concedes less runs, then it becomes difficult at the end. Because we have seen sometimes that if the last over is bowled by a spinner, then things become a bit easy for the batting team. So I think that was the thinking there. If there would have been one less boundary or a wicket would have come, then things would have been very different.”
India would have been disappointed with their fielding efforts and they would want to pull up their socks in the upcoming matches. The Men in Blue will next take on Bangladesh at the Adelaide Oval on Wednesday.
