Stand-in India captain KL Rahul was left to regret “mistakes” after India suffered back-to-back losses in the ODI series against South Africa.

“They (South Africa) are playing some really good cricket and we are making mistakes. It has been a good learning for us... Obviously, it’s not great to be on the losing side two games in a row,” Rahul said after the seven-wicket defeat.

Analysing his team performance, Rahul said: “We’re trying to get better at things we haven’t done well in the past. I spoke about partnerships earlier. The middle order is crucial going into a big tournament. We also want to get wickets in the middle overs, create pressure.”

He admitted that he did not expect the hosts to chase down the 288-run target so easily on a pitch which felt “like one of the wickets at home”.

“I didn’t think it was a pitch where they could have chased down 280-plus that easily, but credit to them, they batted well. They showed us the importance of partnerships and the importance of putting pressure early.”

Although cautious not to give any excuses for the failure, Rahul did speak about a few issues which he thought affected the team’s performance. “I think the energy has been great… It’s really hot. Not saying it as an excuse, but we haven’t played 50-overs cricket in a long time. It’s been tough on the body, staying in the bubbles. It’s challenging, but I’m not saying we don’t love challenges.”

Pant’s opinion

Like Rahul, Rishabh Pant too thinks that India are a bit rusty as they are playing ODIs after a long time. “We are playing ODIs after a long time... There are lots of factors we can talk about, but as a team, we are always looking to improve and hopefully, we will be able to rectify them in coming matches,” the wicketkeeper-batsman, who made a sparkling 85 on Friday, said.

Pant also accepted that the South African spinners — Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi and part-timer Aiden Markram — bowled better than their Indian counterparts. “I think they (Proteas spinners) were more consistent in their lines and lengths and they are used to playing in these conditions,” he said.

While Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal have managed just two wickets from the 40 overs they have bowled so far in the series, the South African spin trio have snared eight wickets.

SA eye 3-0 sweep

South Africa’s white-ball captain Temba Bavuma was candid enough to say that they never expected to be 2-0 up in the series. “We are very happy (to have won the series). That was the objective for us starting the series, we wanted to win the series. (But) we weren’t expecting to do it after two games,” he said.

Reflecting on his team’s success, Bavuma said: “I think as a team we have a lot of self-belief and confidence in our ability. We go out there and fight for one another.

We really try to put in a real team effort. We don’t relyon superstars or one or two performances. “Coming into this series, no one gave us much of a chance, so that really gave us motivation.”

The home team is hungry for more. “I think 3-0 sounds a lot better than 2-1, but in saying that, we’ll enjoy the win today (Friday),” the captain said.