Stand-in captain Rishabh Pant acknowledged on Wednesday that India needed to improve as a Test side and stated that playing at home does not guarantee success.
In the second Test in Guwahati, South Africa trounced India by 408 runs to achieve a 2-0 series sweep. This is the first time the Proteas have done so since their victory under Hansie Cronje in the 1999–2000 series.
“It’s little disappointing. As a team we need to get better. We need to give credit to the opposition. They dominated the series but at the same time, you can’t take cricket for granted (because of playing at home),” said Pant in the post-match presentation.
India will need to learn from the series and improve going forward, according to Pant.
“We need to take the learning and stick as a team. We needed to be clear with our mindset. In the future, we need to learn from it and get better.”
Throughout the series, South Africa played better cricket, the wicketkeeper-batter acknowledged.
“They played better cricket, cricket demands that you need to capitalise as a team. And we did not do that and that cost us the whole series. The positive will be focussing on our own plan and that’s what we will take from this series,” he added.
Temba Bavuma, the captain of South Africa, was thrilled to win the series.
“It’s massive. For me personally, I’ve been out of the game for a couple of months with injury. Not every day you can come to India and walk away with a 2-0 series win.
“What’s special is that we had dark days as a group and it’s a credit to them. There’s a big shift in our mindsets in terms of what we want to do. I think our preparation is something — guys go out there looking to contribute,” he said.
Spinners Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj were praised by Bavuma for their consistency throughout the series.
“Simon has the experience of playing here in India in 2015, he complements Keshav quite well. Bit more guile with the ball, it’s a struggle to take the ball out of their hands. Simon was the man for us in this series,” he said.
Off-spinner Harmer declared he will depart these shores with happy memories after being named player of the series.
“Like I said in the last Test, it’s been a long road. 10 years later, a completely different feeling. Will leave with a lot more fonder memories from then. To beat a very good Indian team is a hell of an effort.
“I was just watching our second innings, after 40 overs, the ball got softer and it became easier. But there was the odd-ball, the ball that Rishabh got. Nice to contribute, nice to get wickets and nice to get a fifer in India,” said Harmer.
With 93 runs in the first innings and seven wickets in the match, Marco Jansen’s all-around effort earned him the title of player of the match.
“Winning any game is a nice feeling and winning in India is special. It’s a team performance. We spoke about sticking to our own things. Got to give credit to Shuks (SA head coach Shukri Conrad), he told me to go out and play my game, I was nervous in the first Test.
“Everyone is working hard, our prep as a team and in an individual capacity. We see where we can get better and on the field we give our best,” he added.
With 93 runs in the first innings and seven wickets in the match, Marco Jansen’s all-around effort earned him the title of player of the match.
“It’s a great feeling. A great effort by everyone to be fair. No easy task coming to India and winning. We needed a few moments of good luck I suppose along the way, very proud of the team.”
Before the series, the opener stated that they did not want to harbor any demons.
“A lot of it was preconceived ideas about conditions. A lot of chat about spin, and quality seamers with the new ball. You don’t want to have demons in your mind before facing your first ball.”
Markram gave his bowlers the credit they deserved for applying pressure on Indian batters.
“Credit to the bowlers, they get the balls in the right areas and you try to catch them and make them happy. Spinning the ball different ways helps in conditions like this. You have to do that for long periods of time and that’s where the control comes in,” he said.
