Indian head coach Rahul Dravid is delighted after the team won the T20I series against Australia and South Africa by a margin of 2-1. It is well known that both of these teams are tricky opponents and India was able to come out on top in these two series after a disappointing run in the Asia Cup.
There is no doubt that winning these two series would have definitely added a shot in the arm to the team before the all-important T20 World Cup. India had lost the first T20I against Australia but bounced back stronger in the remaining two matches to win the series.
Subsequently, India won the first two matches against the Proteas comprehensively before losing the third game of the series. However, the bowling department still remains a big worry for the team, especially the fast bowling at the fag end of the innings.
Rahul Dravid said in the press conference, “It really went well for us, to be honest. Obviously, two good teams (opponents); Australia are the Twenty20 World Champion and South Africa is a team that we had never beaten in a home Twenty20 series. So to get a 2-1 finish in both the series are two good positive results for us.’’
On the other hand, Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out with a back injury, which is a big blow to the team. Earlier, Ravindra Jadeja was ruled out of the T20 World Cup because of a knee injury. Thus, India will be without the services of its two key players.
Dravid added, “It was a kind of series wherein we were unfortunate with one or two injuries, and the series also gave us an opportunity to rotate the squad a bit, give players rest…in fact not really rest, but spend time at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru to ensure that they were able to get their strengths up and build on the workload leading to the World Cup in Australia.”
“All in all, we got what we needed from the two series against Australia and South Africa, there were some good performances, there were tight games. It was tough games for the bowlers from high scoring game, as it is always in India. But the boys can be happy with the fact that we got the right result,’’ he said.
Indian team left for Australia on Wednesday and they will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan.
