Performance in South Africa will boost confidence, says Bhuvneshwar
A seven-run victory over South Africa in the third Twenty20 International in Cape Town on Saturday (February 24) completed a fairly successful tour for India. They wrapped up the T20I series 2-1 to go with the One-Day International series victory. Prior to the limited-overs leg of the tour, India had lost a tightly contested three-Test series 2-1.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who enjoyed tremendous success in the tour across formats, said the performance in South Africa gave the team confidence ahead of more overseas assignments in England and then Australia.
“This tour has been brilliant, especially the Tests. Yes we lost the series but it was all close,” he said. “It could have been 3-0, 2-1 whatever. We’re very confident going to England or Australia. We know we’ve done well in South Africa and we can do well in other countries, but we have to prepare well.”
Things could have perhaps been different in the Test series too, had Bhuvneshwar, India’s top performer in the first Test, not been dropped for the second, which India ended up losing. The allrounder though, was content with his and the team’s performance.
“I don’t want to be too greedy but we’re lucky to win two trophies,” he said. “I really don’t want to go back to Test matches and why I didn’t play (second Test). It’s all about team effort. That match, there were bowlers for those conditions. We’re happy with two trophies. Hopefully next time we come here and we’ll win all.”
While Bhuvneshwar was Player of the Series for his seven wickets in three games, the Player of the Match on Saturday was Suresh Raina. The left-hander made a 27-ball 43 batting at No. 3 and then bagged the wicket of David Miller.
The performance completed a decently successful comeback for him. He had scored of 15 and 31 in the first two games.
Raina, whose career is in a very different stage compared to Bhuvneshwar’s, yet again stressed the importance of the opportunity to play, and was grateful to Virat Kohli for giving him the No. 3 spot.
“I’ve worked really hard for the last two years. Each and every session in the gym, on the field, I was just hoping when I was going to play for India again,” he said. “God has been really kind, thanks to my wife, kid, they’ve really made me believe I can go there and wear the Indian jersey again. That’s what Indian team does. A lot of sacrifices you do for your life and at the same time you enjoy your cricket. I’ve worked really hard on my game as well as my mental toughness.
“When Team India wins, everything looks so nice. The way Virat led the side in the last 2.5 months, it showed he cares each and every person. Batting at No. 3 is big in T20 and he gave me the license to just go after the bowlers. He showed faith in me, at the same time I enjoyed batting with Shikhar (Dhawan). He made me more comfortable, at the other end he was just telling me to look to enjoy and express. That’s what we did in the first six overs. T20 cricket is a lot about the first six overs. You can put a lot of bowlers in the backfoot easily if you have wickets in hand.”
Now after a decent run in the T20Is, and with India facing middle-order batting woes in white-ball cricket, Raina was confident he will be back in the mix for ODIs soon ahead of the 2019 World Cup.
“(This series was) very important for me. From here, we’re going to play in Sri Lanka and then IPL,” he explained. “We have a lot of matches coming up. I was part of the World Cup 2011 and in my first World Cup, I got the trophy in my house. That’s an unbelievable feeling. Coming back to the one-day squad, I’ve done well at the No. 5 spot. It’s just a matter of couple more games and I can ensure that I will be there very soon.”
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