IND vs SA | Indian bowlers put pressure on us in every single aspect, admits Kagiso Rabada
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South Africa's tearaway quick Kagiso Rabada has admitted that the Indian pacers outbowled South Africa in Pune and put pressure on the Proteas batters in every single aspect. But despite the pressure, Rabada is hopeful of his team bouncing back and putting up a good showing in the third Test.
While the whole narrative of the series prior to its commencement was built around South Africa's batsmen vs India's spinners, it was ironically pace that ended up in the undoing of the visitors, with the duo of Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav running through them in the first and second Test respectively. The Indian pacers were so good that they ended up out-bowling their Proteas counterparts, despite the visitors having immense skill and experience in the form of Kagiso Rabada and Vernon Philander.
Rabada, who toiled hard in the Pune Test claiming three wickets, has now admitted that the Indian pacers were too good and lauded their consistency which saw them putting the South African batsmen under constant pressure. The 24-year-old also loathed the lack of reverse swing his team managed to generate in comparison to India, who ensured that the ball did all sorts when they had it in their hands.
"We've been put under immense pressure. I don't know if we can be put more pressure than that," Rabada was quoted as saying by News18.
"They got the ball to reverse and they bowled well as a collective. Their whole attack put pressure on us in every single aspect. Their spinners bowled well and when the ball was reversing their seamers could exploit that. We didn't really get the ball to reverse and that's a major weapon of ours," he explained.
Having been whitewashed by Sri Lanka in their own backyard, the Pune Test also marked South Africa's fourth consecutive Test defeat. But the speedster believes that the team is currently going through a transition period and will need time to set things straight and insisted on the need for them to identify their strengths and build on them.
Rabada also believes that his side has been lacking when it comes to their execution of plans and admitted that they would need to tighten up from both a physical and mental point of view to have a chance of competing in the final Test.
"It's never nice to lose, especially in the manner we're losing right now but we're going through a transition period. Our team is fresh and young, so the best thing we can do is look at where we can improve and remember our strengths and build on them.
"From a physical point of view we need to execute our skills and from a mental point of view, we need to believe we can do it in certain situations. It's a balance we're working on," the speedster signed off.
