Hashim Amla believes that India series loss got their feet back on the ground

After winning the three-match Test series 2-1, the hosts were looking forward to continuing the momentum in the ODI series as well. But the Indian cricket team had other plans as they managed to win the first three games in a row to take an unassailable lead in the series. Somehow, the hosts made a comeback after winning the rain-marred game in Johannesburg via DLS method but thanks to Rohit Sharma’s century, India handed the hosts a 73-run loss in the fifth ODI in Port Elizabeth to register their first-ever series win on South African soil.

"When you're playing well and someone has a brilliant innings, cracks can be covered. But 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. It is (easy to motivate ourselves). At every stage in the series you look at the positives.

"Now the positive is you want to end the series on a good note. The coach has a long-term vision and a few ideas up his sleeve, and he has the opportunity to play that. That will give us motivation.

During the series, the South African team seemed to be struggling in picking the bowling variations of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, who played a significant role in wrapping up the series in five games. The pair faced some challenges at Wanderers due to the wet outfield which resulted in South Africa’s first win in the series so far. The spinners got a chance in the squad in the place of experienced duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin and both young players successfully tried to keep the faith of the Indian selectors as Kuldeep led the highest wicket-takers list with 16 wickets followed by his teammate Chahal who grabbed 14 wickets.

"They've been bowling decently and the younger guys and everybody really has learnt more about themselves playing spinners. There has never been an issue before even when we've played wrist spinners around the world.

Apart from the attack of the Indian wrist spinners, the hosts were facing trouble from their own team players as their some regular players ruled out from the series due to the injuries. The injured players' list also saw the name of skipper Faf du Plessis which forced the selectors to give the team’s responsibility to Aiden Markram. 

"I've been very impressed with Aiden on the field. He is very composed and has a good idea of what he would like. As a captain, if you don't score runs then the first thing that gets attributed to you is the 'captaincy has affected your batting'. It certainly happened when I was captain and I've seen the same cliche for other guys. Aiden is still young in international cricket. Obviously, it was a great opportunity for him to captain and I think he's learned so much about captaining and also about batting when you are a captain in international cricket. He's only going to get better."