Rahul on the importance of the toss after losing the 2nd ODI, saying they were another 20-25 runs to give a good cushion.
Rahul: Toss plays a ‘huge part’ and ‘making a huge difference’ with dew.
Captain KL Rahul stated that the toss “plays a huge part” and makes a “huge difference” in matches where dew significantly skews the match in favour of chasing sides shortly after India was unable to defend a massive score of 358 against South Africa in the second ODI. South Africa chose to bowl after India lost their 20th consecutive ODI toss, and they won by four wickets with four balls remaining to tie the series at one.
“Not really, considering everything – how much dew there is and how difficult it is to bowl in the second innings,” Rahul said at the presentation when asked if the defeat was a tough pill to swallow. “The last game, we did really well, considering everything. All the difficulties for bowlers bowling with a wet ball, and the umpires have been nice enough to change the ball a few times, but still I think toss plays a huge part. So I’m kicking myself about losing two tosses in a row. It’s obviously making a huge difference.”
This series, Rahul’s captaincy required India to bat for a second consecutive game. Although India scored 349 in the first game in Ranchi and won by a slim margin of 17 runs, a higher target was insufficient this time.
“To reflect back there’s always things that we could have done better,” Rahul said. “With the bat, I know that 350 looks good, but that’s also been the chat in the dressing room even after the last game [about] how can we get that extra 20-25 runs, so that the bowlers find some cushion when they bowl with the wet ball.
“Bowlers obviously are trying their heart out, but there are areas to improve. There are a few soft boundaries that we gave away, even in the field. If we can tighten up all three aspects of the game and get a bit more sharper, then maybe those 20-25 runs will go our way and we’ll be on the other side.”