On December 19, India fell to South Africa in the second One-Day International (ODI). The Proteas leveled the series with a magnificent eight-wicket victory and an impressive display of play. The first inning saw the visitors swept out for just 211 due to a deficiency in the Indian batting attack. KL Rahul and Sai Sudharsan did score 56 and 62 runs, respectively.
But the rest of the batting attack was not going to be very successful. Many predicted that in order for the Men in Blue to recover, they would alter their strategy going into the third ODI. In the series finale against South Africa on December 21, batting coach Sitanshu Kotak stated that the Indian squad would not alter their strategy. He declared that the decision on the team would be made following the pitch.
“We won’t alter our strategy in any way. At the press conference following the game, Sitanshu Kotak stated, “I don’t think there will be many changes, but once we go and see the wicket, then we will decide.” “Our playing intent won’t really change on any pitch, anyplace. Both bowlers and hitters will need to modify their strategies based on the wicket.
We might have reached 250–260: Sitanshu Kotak
Kotak said that a score between 250 and 260 may have been a competitive total for the Indian squad and that losing the toss in the second ODI proved to be critical for the hosts.
“I think we could have reached 250-260; it would have been a competitive score, but obviously the toss was important. We were down 165 for 4 in 35 overs. Another impression I had was that South Africa had been defeated several times in the first ten overs. In the ten overs, it would have been intriguing if we could have made a few breakthroughs, Kotak remarked.
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