India missed somebody like sir Ravindra Jadeja in South Africa: Dale Steyn

After drawing first blood at Centurion, Team India lost the next two Tests from a position of strength before suffering a whitewash in the One Day International series that followed. While the visitors seemed to be in the driver’s seat in the dead-rubber third ODI at Newlands, Cape Town on Sunday, the lower order disappointed as they fell agonizingly short by five runs.

After failing to win even a single ODI game in the just-concluded series, veteran South African pacer Dale Steyn has said that the Men In Blue missed star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. Terming him a ‘wonderful cricketer’, Steyn said that the southpaw would have made it matter both with the bat as well as the ball in hand. As per reports, the Gujarat cricketer missed the South Africa series due to a ligament tear.

“They definitely missed somebody like Sir Ravi Jadeja. I just think he is a wonderful cricketer. He can control the game with his left-arm spin. He is brilliant and he can also bat”, said the Proteas pace icon while speaking on Star Sports.

India’s got a bit of a bowling issue, says Dale Steyn

At the same time, the veteran speedster also mentioned that the Indian team must sort out their bowling issues at the earliest and also need someone to support pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah from the other end. Furthermore, he also added that Test specialist Mohammed Siraj is probably a name for the future.

“India’s got a bit of a bowling issue. They need somebody to back up Bumrah. They need someone who can bowl in a 140-145km per hour bracket. Shami is great. He had a long Test series. Siraj looks like a name for the future. I think he’s got a bit of a niggle”,  he said.

Chasing 288 to salvage pride, opener Shikhar Dhawan (61) and ex-skipper Virat Kohli (65) added 98 runs for the second-wicket stand before India found themselves in a spot of bother at 239/6 in the 40th over. Bowling all-rounder Deepak Chahar then played a superb knock of a 34-ball 54 and brought the Men In Blue within touching distance. Unfortunately, he was dismissed in the 48th over while attempting a big shot, and post his dismissal, Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal could not do much as the visitors were bundled out for 283 with four balls to spare.