A journalist managed to irk Team India head coach Rahul Dravid with his question about India's reliance on match-ups and ended up getting a stern response after the hosts’ 49-run defeat against South Africa in the third and final T20I on Tuesday (October 4) in Indore.
Actually, during the post-match press conference, Dravid was asked about the use of Akshar Patel during the final T20I against South Africa, as the hosts did not use the left-arm spinner when Quinton de Kock (68) and Rilee Rossouw (100*) were in the middle and racked up so many runs.
R Ashwin was the only bowler who conceded less than 10 runs per over, while Akshar was given only one over where he conceded 13 runs. South Africa posted 227/3 on the board against India in the final T20I on Tuesday. Well, India bowled out for 178 to lose the match by 49 runs against the Proteas side.
Rahul Dravid told the scribe who asked about India's reliance on match-ups at post-match presser: “Match-ups are important, they are important to us. Whether they are more important or not, it's for you guys to dig deep and look at what stats tell you about match-ups, about numbers of left-hand batsmen against left-arm spin. Maybe you might get some answers to that.”
He added, “A lot of teams use match-ups, not only us. Like us, a lot of other teams look and delve into stats, into numbers. I think if you dwell on some of those numbers, you might get some answers. I would really request you to maybe look at some of those numbers, deeply, as deeply as we do.”
(Star Sports inputs)
