Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Pujara failed to perform in the 3-match Test series vs South Africa.© AFP
Former Indian cricketer Atul Wassan expressed disappointment after South Africa beat the Men in Blue to win the three-game run 2-1 at Newlands in Cape Town on Friday. India had won the first Test by 113 runs, but South Africa recorded victories in the second and third Tests to take the series. “This team is definitely not what we’ve seen before. I’m disappointed, not shocked because these things are happening in cricket, but I didn’t expect this kind of fight back. It’s a good sign for South African cricket as they are losing weight somewhat were the map. England, Australia and India dominated. A good South African team will work very well for Indian cricket. It is disheartening not to have won the series and lose the series, but lessons have to be learned,” Atul Wassan told ANI.
“I think Rahul Dravid was where we were in the series after a 1-0 lead. They’ve done that before, but yes, this is the weakest side, but afterwards you can see how their batsmen played, especially Petersen and Bavuma and Van der Dussen. So they played really well. It shows they have the potential and beating a side like India will also help them do better abroad,” he added.
Wassan went on to say that Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara are not doing enough for the team and may not get more opportunities in the future.
“I think the ship has sailed for Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara because they are not doing enough. An odd 40 and an odd 50 will not work for them, it is not to be expected. Our batsmen have lost us the series this time. They bowlers haven’t given enough runs to defend 20 wickets,” Wassan said.
“We saw the wickets get easier as the game went on and we saw these guys score runs. So it was identical to what happened in the last two test matches. So the blame is on Pujara and Rahane. The Indian team invested a lot in them and we wanted them to feel counted and they didn’t make it count,” he added.
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With 41 runs needed to win after lunch on Day 4, Rassie van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma easily won South Africa on Friday. as a result, India failed to win their first Test series on South African soil after losing the third match by seven wickets.
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