What Indian players said after ODI series win

• India won by 9 wickets, clinching the ODI series 2-1 against South Africa.
• Jaiswal's maiden ODI century (116) & Kohli's 65* powered India's chase of 270.
• Kuldeep & Prasidh grabbed 4 wickets each restricting SA to 270, De Kock scored 106.

India defeated South Africa by nine wickets in the third and final ODI at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Saturday, December 6. With this

comprehensive victory, the Men in Blue bagged the three-match series 2-1.

KL Rahul won the toss and opted to field first. Arshdeep Singh got India off to an ideal start, as he dismissed Ryan Rickelton in the first over. Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma added 113 runs for the second wicket. The South African captain was dismissed two runs short of his fifty.

De Kock scored his seventh ODI century against India. However, Matthew Breetzke and Dewald Brevis failed to convert their starts. Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav bagged four wickets each as South Africa lost their last eight wickets for 102 runs. The tourists were bowled out for 270, with de Kock top-scoring with 106 off 89 balls.

In reply, Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal stitched a fantastic stand of 155 runs off as many balls. Their stunning partnership helped the Men in Blue get into a comfortable position.

After Rohit was dismissed by Keshav Maharaj for a 73-ball 75, Kohli joined Yashasvi in the middle. The youngster slammed his maiden century in ODI cricket. He became only the sixth Indian batter to register centuries in all three formats of the game.

Yashasvi and Kohli added 116 runs off 84 deliveries, helping India win in a canter. While the southpaw scored 116 off 121 balls, Kohli remained unbeaten on 65 off 45 deliveries. The home side scored 271/1 in 39.5 overs.

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Who Said What?

Temba Bavuma (Losing Captain)

I mean, we would have wanted to make it a lot more exciting today. I think fact of the matter is that from a batting point of view, we didn't have enough runs on the board. I think as it's been in the series, it does tend to get easier under lights with the ball skidding on. So probably a little bit smarter from us. In the middle innings, gifting wickets like that it's always going to put you under pressure. Fought with the ball today, in that first turn, we were much better. But obviously, without much scoreboard pressure they didn't have to take risks. But at the end, the Indian team showed their quality. Kudos to them. (on their batting today) I think like I said, we could have been a lot more smarter. I think, if I look at the first two ODIs, we kind of prided ourselves enough when the spinners have come on. The guys have looked to take on the spinners. I think probably today, conditions is a little bit different. You don't want to kind of be losing wickets like that. Look, it made it hard for partnerships to form. And you never want to get bowled out in a 50-over game. So, a couple of starts. Quinton, yes, he got over the hundred mark. I got in, lost my way there. It was always going to be difficult for the guys. But I think just being a little bit more smarter and us learning from this experience. (on how he views this series) I think we've definitely grown. Look, we've got some young faces within our team. We speak a lot about how we want to play, take the game to the opposition. And I think we did that. India have quality spinners. And it's never easy putting them under pressure, I think. For the large part of the series, we were able to do that. So, we can only grow from there. And like I said, just us being a lot more smarter, recognising the situations and trying to play accordingly as well. But I think if there were ten boxes, I'd like to think we ticked six or seven of them.

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Yashasvi Jaiswal (Player of the Match)

(Big burden off the chest on registering his maiden ODI hundred?) Yes, of course. I really enjoyed it. I'm really grateful and blessed. (On his conversations with Rohit while batting) We have been chatting a lot about how we can play and how we can set the target and what tempo we can play. So, I'm trying to understand. I had starts in last two games but I couldn't convert. So, we have been speaking how we can convert this and how we balance this inning. I was just thinking how I can balance the inning. So, sometimes I need to be attacking and sometimes I was thinking, okay, maybe I'll take a single or I'll run the game. So, that was my plan and it was pretty good. (did he have to curb his aggression tonight?) I have to control my thoughts on where I can play, what shot I can play and how I can play as deep as possible. And with keeping that in my mind that if it requires, I need to go after the bowlers. (on batting with Virat) Virat paaji, the minute he came, he started playing a lot of shots and we kept chatting as well. He kept giving me small targets that I need to focus on. So, it was helping me towards my goal as well. So, I really enjoyed it.

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Virat Kohli (Player of the Series)

Honestly, just playing the way I have in this series has been the most satisfying thing for me. I don't think I have played at this level for a good 2-3 years now and I feel really free in my mind. Just the whole game is coming together nicely. Very exciting to build on. And something that I have always tried to do as a player, kind of maintain my own standards that I have set for myself and play at the level that I can make an impact for the team. And I know when I can bat like that out there in the middle, then it of course helps the team in a big way because I can bat long, I can bat according to the situation. And just being confident just makes me feel like, okay, any situation out there in the middle, I have what it takes to handle that situation and bring it in favour of the team. When you play for that long, 15-16 years, of course, you are going to have many phases where you doubt your ability. Especially as a batsman because you are literally relying on one mistake. So, you tend to go into a space where you feel like maybe I am not good enough, the nerves take over. That's the beauty of sport, especially a skill like batting where you have to keep overcoming that fear. Every ball that you play and eventually play a long innings and get into a zone again where you can start playing confidently. So, it's a whole journey of learning and getting to know yourself better and becoming better as a person along the whole way. I can surely vouch for the fact that being a batsman and realising so much about myself, what kind of negative thinking patterns I have where I can get into a zone where I don't feel confident or when I am feeling like myself, what are those small little details. It just improves you as a person in general and your whole temperament becomes much better and balanced over so many years. So, yes, I have had many phases where I have doubted myself and I haven't been shy to admit that. So, I think it's a pretty human part of anyone's journey for that long. But I am just glad that I am still able to contribute for the team.

When I play freely, then I know I can hit sixes. So, I just wanted to have some fun because I was batting well, just take a bit more risk. Just push my own boundaries and see where we go. There's always levels you can unlock and you just need to take a risk. (His best knock of this series) The first one at Ranchi because I hadn't played a game since Australia. Just to come out and you know when you start hitting the ball well. And also, just how your energy is on the day. You just feel so confident of taking risks. And when they come off, of course, it unlocks, as I said, that zone as a batsman which you are craving for. So, Ranchi was very special for me because it just opened me up in a way that I haven't felt for a while. I am just grateful for how these three games have gone. (Thoughts coming into this game as senior members) It's always brought the best out of us over the years. That's what we play our cricket for. You don't want it to be 1-1. But when it is 1-1 and it's a decider, you get excited. I want to make a play today. I want to make a dent into the game. And I want to do something special for the team. That's what we have always done over so many years. And that's why we have been able to play for so long. Because we have always been aligned to what the team needs. And what we can do with our skill sets according to the situation. And, just happy that both of us (Rohit and himself) continue to do so even now and help the team.

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KL Rahul (Winning Captain)

The first was the toss, I don't think the team has looked at me and smiled so much and have been more proud of me for doing anything other than winning this toss. Yeah, it was really crucial. You can see how the ground is at the moment. We got tough conditions in the first two games. So, it was good to give the bowlers a break in a wet outfield. (On the surface) It was still a really good wicket, what we were able to do was pick up wickets in bunches. And we know with teams that go so hard, it can either be a 400 chase or sometimes play one too many shots and get out and that's what happened. We were able to squeeze in the middle. Prasidh picked up those two or three wickets in a spell which was really crucial. And then Kuldeep coming in, picking two wickets in an over. So, in ODI cricket, that's how you try and contain teams. That's how you can win games of cricket - picking up wickets. That's the only way you can stop teams. The way he (de Kock) was batting ... when he get out, it was 180 or something and he was already batting on 120. It shows that the set batter obviously felt the wicket was a bit different. For guys coming in, it was much harder. So, it was a really crucial wicket at that point. (Happy with the series?) Yeah, that's the most pleasing thing about the series is how we've been able to hold our nerve and how we've been able to handle the pressure. In all the games, the batters from South Africa have been able to come in with that sort of an intent to come and put our bowlers under pressure. And the bowlers have really held their nerve. One result that didn't go our way. But like I said, at the toss, we're not really upset or not really thinking too much about it. Because I think the stuff that we've been doing, the planning that we've done and the processes that they've followed and they've been consistent with that. So, today was one instance where doing the same thing paid off.