India have been so consistent in the last five years that the ODI debacle against New Zealand is not worrying, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal said on Tuesday, playing down the rare series-whitewash the Black Caps inflicted on them.
“Overall, if you see it is just the fourth or fifth series loss in the last 4-5 years. The other team is also here to play. You cannot win every match. We have won one series, lost the other, so it is not something too serious to ponder over,” Chahal said at post match conference.
He said the youngsters will learn a lot from the experience of playing in New Zealand.
“Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal came into the side, so youngsters got to play outside India. It is not easy to play in New Zealand. But overall if we see, it is just an ODI series. We did win the T20 series 5-0, first time, that’s a positive for us as well,” added Chahal.
Chahal was all praise for the hosts but admitted fielding is a concern for India.
“They have played quite extraordinarily in this series. So we need to appreciate that. Poor fielding happens at times. Once in 10 series it happens, we have time until the next ODI series. We have seen what are the shortcomings and we have enough time to work on it before the next series,” he said.
When asked why he and Kuldeep Yadav have not played together since the World Cup, he said, “Ravindra Jadeja is playing extraordinarily well, whether it is batting or bowling or fielding. So, I play half the matches and Kuldeep plays half the matches.”
“Main motive is to do what is best for the team. In Asia Cup all three of us have played together as well. If wickets allow that, maybe all of us will play together again.”