'A' CLASS INDIA THUMP SA

Spinners Star In Dominating Win As Hosts Bag ODI Series 2-1 To Prove Bench Strength

- Arani Basu

The Arun Jaitley Stadium here barely had half its capacity crowd for the deciding ODI between India and South Africa on Tuesday. There were fears of a shortened game following the incessant rain on the previous four days.

One did get a shortened game but it had nothing to do with the weather. South Africa's inadequacies against spin on a damp pitch resulted in the tourists folding for 99 in 27.1 overs after India captain Shikhar Dhawan won the toss and elected to field.

The series was widely perceived as a 'second-string' Indian team, resembling the composition of an India 'A' team, taking on a full-strength South African team. When Shreyas Iyer hit Marco Jansen for a six over long-off to win the series 2-1, after Shubman Gill had fallen for a 57-ball 49, with seven wickets and 30.5 overs to spare, India's ominous depth in resources came to the fore.

If anything, the veteran Dhawan would have liked to get more runs than his scores of 4, 13, and 8 in the series. While this has been a graduation process for most players playing in the series, there are players who are fighting to reclaim their spots in India's first XI.