IND vs SA: ‘Desperation’ to win ODI series decider, says Doeschate

Ahead of the final ODI against South Africa, India assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate spoke on how team is preparing to tackle the dew factor, which caused Proteas to chase down a massive 359 at Raipur, and added that after a Test whitewash at home against the same opponent, their second in back-to-back years, there is a “slight desperation” to win the ODI leg of the series. With the scoreline level at 1-1, India and South Africa, both featuring a fiery batting line-up are set to serve fans a cracking decider clash on Saturday at Visakhapatnam.

In both the ODIs so far, where scores have gone in excess to 340-350 runs from India after being put to bat first, have not proven to be safe against an explosive SA line-up. While Proteas fell 17 runs short of 350 in the first ODI, they pulled things back by chasing 359 at Raipur. The presence of dew in India’s bowling innings was a big factor, as the Proteas found it easier to bat on a better outfield and bowlers struggled to grip a wet ball well.

Tackling the dew factor

Speaking during the pre-match presser, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo, Doeschate said, “The dew factor is, we are actually trying to put a number on it, and it varies between 10 and 20 per cent [in terms of] what a big difference it makes [to the result].”

“At the start of the first game, we thought 320 sort of par, and then we put a premium at 350, and we thought that the game in Raipur was the same. We thought 360, even given the dew coming, it was a good effort to get that score. You always want more runs, and again, the conversations have been around how we can maximise. What we said about guys starting in slightly later on, what are the better options, we just had a good chat around that,” he added.

The assistant coach said that, besides thinking about maximising their runs, the team’s bowling attack is also putting in hard yards, bowling with a wet ball and learning how to defend big totals. “We are doing all the practical prep stuff, guys bowling with wet balls. Again, you know, like setting up our store to get a premium score, figuring out how to defend, what is best to bowl with the wet ball when there is dew on the grass,” he added.

Early start time not a feasible solution

On whether an early starting time for the match, instead of 1:30 PM IST, could negate the dew factor, Doeschate said, “I think it is, you know, the fact that the dew kind of falls as the second inning starts, it means the dew is there for the whole time. So a different start time could bring that effect down a little bit if you started two hours early. That is a solution, but obviously, there are so many moving parts at play in terms of broadcasting. So it is a futile conversation.”

Pressure to win after Test series loss

Finally, speaking on if there is an extra pressure to capture the ODI series after a 0-2 loss in Tests, Doeschate said on a concluding note, “It is a very different personnel of players, but the guys are very aware of the responsibility of what they are representing. We always want to win, but certainly when a few losses do start stacking up, and performances are below what we expect from ourselves. I think there is a desperation to win the series tomorrow.”

Squads

India Squad: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul(w/c), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant, Tilak Varma, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy

South Africa Squad: Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock(w), Temba Bavuma(c), Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi, Ryan Rickelton, Ottneil Baartman, Rubin Hermann, Prenelan Subrayen. (ANI)

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