New Delhi, Nov 30 (IANS) Former India cricketer Atul Wassan feels that the Indian batters took on South Africa with a strong mindset to avenge their recent loss in the two-match Test series against the same opposition. India posted a 350-run target in the first innings, riding on Virat Kohli’s century and half-centuries by Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.

Speaking exclusively to IANS about India’s approach in the game, Wassan said the team will have to play well since they’re all high-ranked players. He opined that the Men in Blue were ‘frustrated’ after the Test loss and wanted to vent it out in the ODIs, which they did as a unit.

“They have to play good innings; they’re good players, and they’ll have to play well. I feel that nowadays there’s a fixed template in ODIs. If we start talking about every single player’s innings, we’ll just keep going on and on. Speaking of Virat, since he’s scored a hundred, and the team’s recently lost Tests to South Africa, it seems like an embarrassed cat scratching the pole’ situation like the proverb. India are frustrated. After losing the Test match, they wanted to take it out on them completely. So the entire unit did well with the bat,” Wassan said.

The 57-year-old praised South Africa’s intentions and said the team can no longer be called ‘chokers’ as they once were. He also gave special praise to Temba Bavuma and stated that the team has been performing well on the big stage because of the confidence Bavuma has instilled in the players.

“South Africa are no longer a choker. Though South Africa don’t have big-name players that they used to have at one time, they believe that they can win. And their captain is a special player. He has instilled the belief and taught them how to win. Everyone is talented, but the winning habit is something very tough to get,” he added.

–IANS

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