Coach Rahul Dravid reveals 3-0 ODI series loss is an ‘eye-opener’ for Team India

The head coach Rahul Dravid also admitted that the side missed the likes of Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, who give much-needed all-round options to the side. 

After suffering a crushing 3-0 loss against South Africa, head coach Rahul Dravid on Sunday (January 23) said that this series is a ‘good eye-opener’ for the team but there is still a lot of time before the 2023 ODI World Cup and India will get better in the near future. Fighting fifties by Virat Kohli (65), Shikhar Dhawan (61), and Deepak Chahar (54) went in vain as South Africa completed a hat-trick of wins with a four-run victory in the thrilling third and final ODI to seal a 3-0 series whitewash against India in Cape Town on Sunday.

“I think this ODI series has been a good eye-opener for us. We have not played a lot of ODIs, this has been my first stint with the ODI side. Even the team itself has not played many ODIs after the 2019 World Cup. Luckily, we have got time to go before the 2023 World Cup. There is going to be a lot of cricket from now until then in white-ball format till 2023,” Dravid said in the post-match press conference.

“It is going to be a good opportunity for us to really reflect and learn and keep getting better. We will get better, there is no doubt about that,” he added.