Bengaluru : India and South Africa shared the honours in the Twenty20 International series after the deciding fifth and final match in Bengaluru was abandoned due to rain. The touring side won the first two matches before India bounced back to level the series at 2-2 to send the series to an effective final on Sunday. Rain forced the players off the field just as play was set to start at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium and South Africa fast bowler Lungi Ngidi dismissed the hostsā opening batsmen to reduce India to 28-2 after the restart. But it started pouring again with only 3.3 overs bowled and no more play was possible.
Rishabh Pant, said, ‘ There are a lot of positives. The way the team showed character from 0-2 down was a huge positive. We are in a nice spot as we are finding different ways to win the game. I can only think about giving my 100% as a player and captain. It is for you guys to decide on how I am doing as a player and captain, I can only focus on giving my 100% every time I go on the field and keep improving. This is the first time I have lost so many tosses, but it is not in my control. We will be keen to win the Test we are going to play in England and from a personal point of view I am keen to contribute more to the team with the bat.’
Keshav Maharaj, said, ‘ Very disappointed we didn’t get a full game for the end of an exciting tour. We started pretty well, pity we could not see the outcome. We can’t control the weather. We tried a few combinations. Still a work in progress for Australia. You may still see changes. I am sure the future series against India will be interesting like this one. We were disappointed with our performance in the last two games. We carried our confidence from past tours at the same time we didn’t want to take anything for granted.’
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Player of the Series, said, ‘Really proud. Body feels good, but I don’t want to talk much about it. Just want to focus on getting back stronger physically and with my bowling. Most of the times I bowl two at the top and two at the end. Being a senior, I also think about how to help the youngsters. I have been lucky that the captain gave me the free hand to do whatever I wanted. Pretty blessed in that way.’