"We didn't play our best cricket" - South Africa head coach Mark Boucher laments patchy displays by players in IND vs SA 2022 series

South Africa head coach Mark Boucher has claimed he will take the 2-2 result in the T20I series against India in his stride. The series between India and South Africa ended in a draw after rain washed out the series decider at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

The Temba Bavuma-led side held a near-unassailable 2-0 lead in the five-match series following wins in Delhi and Cuttack. However, the side slumped to heavy defeats in the next two matches to lose their momentum.

The Proteas also dealt with injury issues consistently over the course of the series. Aiden Markram was ruled out of the series while Quinton de Kock was not available for all the matches.

Claiming that the bowling unit looked a little rusty at times, Mark Boucher conceded that South Africa were far from their best cricket. The former wicket-keeper said:

"You come to India off the back of an IPL season. A lot of their players are in good form. They've played a lot of cricket in these conditions. I'll take two-all. We didn't play our best cricket."

Boucher added:

"Our bowling at certain stages was very good. And on other occasions, we looked a little bit rusty. But yeah, a lot of lessons in a World Cup year where we can still see if we can plug a few gaps going to Australia."

South Africa will look to make amends in the upcoming 2022 T20 World Cup after narrowly missing out on a semi-final berth in the previous edition. Much like India, the Proteas will next tour England for a full-fledged tour.

"Bhuvi was exceptional in this whole series" - Mark Boucher

With scores of 42, 38 and 35 in the last three matches in the powerplay, the Proteas struggled to get going initially. The primary reason behind that was the player of the series awardee, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

The right-arm pacer consistently swung the ball both ways to claim six wickets, including a match-winning spell of 4-13 in the third contest.

Admitting that Bhuvneshwar Kumar was a constant menace to the top order batters in the series, Boucher said:

"We also came up against some quality bowling. Bhuvi was exceptional in this whole series. He put us under pressure in the Powerplays. Barring one game, that's an area that India dominated us in, with both bat and ball over our players and that's something we will definitely look into and try and improve."

Boucher concluded:

"We struggled in quite a few of the games to get going. Especially in the third game. We didn't go in and bat with the intent we needed."

With the 2-2 result, South Africa have remained undefeated in white-ball campaigns in India since 2010. The two teams will face each other in the T20 World Cup after being drawn in Group B of the tournament in Australia.