New Delhi: South Africa opener Hashim Amla on Thursday admitted that the pounding his side experienced at the hands of rampant India might have dented the morale of some players. Ahead of the final clash on Friday, Amla said that the team is not used to the hammering it has received the past few days.
“I don’t think in one-day cricket we’ve been in this position. Maybe in 2008 in England, when we didn’t have a good one-day series but there are always positives and learning to take from it. We’ve got a few younger guys in the team who will think, ‘Phew, one-day cricket is tough.’ But thankfully it will only get easier for them because we haven’t played our best cricket. We’ve played decent cricket in patches but sub-par cricket from what we’re used to." said Amla.
Barring the rain curtailed fourth encounter which the hosts won, the depleted team has remained clueless against the Indian spinners. 30 wickets, in the five matches played so far, have been taken by the spin duo of Chahal and Kuldeep. But even after the loss, 34-year-old Amla believes that the drubbing might serve as a blessing in disguise ahead of the World Cup in England.
“One of the silver linings of losing a few matches like we have is you can throw out all different learning you are going to take. In this series it has been highlighted that we haven’t been able to score runs in the middle period. When you lose in this manner, whatever adjustments need to be made, you focus on it more. For me that’s a very positive thing. The World Cup is not far away. India are probably playing their best team. Whatever experience we get against them we will take forward. " said the opener
India won a historic maiden ODI series on South African soil with a 73-run win in the fifth ODI at Port Elizabeth. The sixth and final match will be played in Centurion on Friday.