Back On The Field

As IPL has ended , players have gone back to their international duties , with Indians playing a home series against South Africa . To start off the tour , they play a 5-game T 20 series.

Today was the second of the 5 games , held at Cuttack . Given the number of players still reeling from IPL , most notably Rohit Sharma , Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah , this series was meant to be a strengthening experience for the youngsters , and give them more experience . Sadly that has not been the case as South Africa has won both the games by chasing their target.

Today’s game started quite comfortably on the slow pitch of Cuttack , despite Ruturaj getting out early, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer batted quite well , and Dinesh Kartik finished the innings with a bang, leaving a score of 148 to defend. While not much , it was still a decent score when taking into account bowling centric team.

Bhuveneswar Kumar gave them a dream start , restricting them to a mere 29/3 in 6 overs , but Henrich Klaasen had different plans . He belted the bowlers , especially targeting Chahal and Hardik Pandya , and his 81 off a mere 46 balls almost sealed the deal on its own.

While only a trying ground for new players for team India , it is worrying that the Indian team has won no matches this year when not captained by Rohit Sharma ( source: Cricbuzz) . This shows there is still a lot of room to grow and learn , but with the talent in our dressing room , it is not that far-fetched that India can still steal some games against the caliber of the South African team. I feel this bodes well for India , while it may not look so in the news, Any learning through defeat is more effective than resting on your laurels before the main job is over .

Have a nice week !