India must learn from ODI defeats, says Dhoni

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is hopeful his squad will learn from their defeat against South Africa in the recently concluded One-Day International series in time for the first of two Test matches at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on December 18.

The Indians lost the series 2-0 after rain prevented the tourists batting in the third match on Wednesday which was subsequently declared a no-result.

Despite the outcome, Dhoni said that he was glad the ODIs were played before the Tests because it had given his players a chance to get used to the pace and bounce of South African pitches.

“We were looking positive at the break,” Dhoni said.

“This was one of the best pitches for the batsmen.

“We exposed their middle order to some extent and we were able to capitalise with the new ball.”

Meanwhile, South Africa skipper AB De Villiers saw it otherwise, hoping that his side would be able to take their one-day dominance into the Test series.

“We spoke about it before the first ODI, saying we could make it a long tour for them if we started really well and laid our authority down.

“We did that and we have managed to scar one or two of their batsmen.”

De Kock’s feat

Before the rain fell on Centurion’s SuperSport Park, the third ODI was mainly notable for South African youngster Quinton de Kock who hit his third century in a row.

The 20-year-old left-hander made 101 in a South African total of 301 for eight.

The ton meant that he joined four other players who had hit a hat-trick of hundreds in ODIs – Pakistan’s Zaheer Abbas and Saeed Anwar and two South Africans, Herschelle Gibbs and AB de Villiers.

De Kock was named man of the series.