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Xtra Time Web Desk : Team India on Sunday lost the third and the final ODI of the 3 match series against South Africa by a margin of 4 runs in spite of a fighting 54 run knock from Deepak Chahar. The loss saw the Proteas completed a 3-0 clean sweep over the visitors in what was almost a one sided series.

And after the completion of what was an utterly disappointing tour, Team India's head coach, Rahul Dravid came out to face media in a virtual post match press and opened up about various aspects related to the series, which was also his first overseas tour as the Head Coach of India.

Opening up about pacer Deepak Chahar's scintillating innings of 54 off 34 in the third ODI, 'The Wall' said, "I mean Deepak Chahar has shown in the opportunities he has gotten with us in Sri Lanka and over here well, he has got some really good ability with the bat. We know what he can do with the ball as well. I have seen him at India A as well and I know he can bat really well so certainly gives us a lot more options,"

"It is nice to have people like him and Shardul Thakur as well, who we have seen in the last couple of games, contribute with the bat as well. So, obviously, the more and more players like this who can contribute lower down, certainly makes a big difference and give us more options. So, certainly we would like to give Deepak more games along with Shardul and lot of other people who can step up in the course of next year or so and give us depth in the side," added the 49 year old.

"I think if you are a little bit honest, some of the guys who help us balance the the squad out and give us those all-round options at Nos 6, 7 and 8 are probably not here, and available for selection," Dravid said, clearly talking about the absence of Pandya, who is trying to get his bowling fitness back and Jadeja, who is recuperating from a knee injury.

"Hopefully, when they (Hardik and Jadeja) come back, it will give us a lot more depth, it allows us then to probably play in a slightly different style," Dravid made it clear as to what he missed in the series.

Also, replying to a question about plans for the 2023 World Cup, Dravid stated, "I think this ODI series has been a good eye-opener for us. We have not played a lot of ODIs, this has been my first stint with the ODI side. Even the team itself has not played many ODIs after the 2019 World Cup. Luckily, we have got time to go before the 2023 World Cup. It is going to be a lot of cricket in white-ball format till 2023. It is going to be a good opportunity for us to really reflect and learn and keep getting better. We will get better, there is no doubt that. We certainly good do better with the batting in middle overs, we understand the template and we know a large part of that template is also dependent on the balance of your squad."

Team India will now look to return back to winning ways against West Indies in the home series that will start from February 6.