India vs South Africa 3rd ODI: How DDCA curators pulled off a 'miracle'

Yet, DDCA chief curator Ankit Datta along with BCCI curator Sunil Chauhan pulled off a miracle of sorts with just two hours of sunshine to get the game started after just a 45-minute delay. No overs were lost.

Read AlsoIndia vs South Africa 3rd ODI: 'A' class India thump South Africa, win series 2-1

The Arun Jaitley Stadium here barely had half its capacity crowd for the deciding ODI between India and South Africa on Tuesday. There were fears of a shortened game, following the incessant rain on the previous four days. One did get a shortened game but it had nothing to do with the weather. South

The 34-year-old Datta has been in charge of the Kotla square for seven years now and has fought hard to change the nature of the pitch, which has historically played low and slow. But this had to be his biggest challenge. The off-season work on the outfield's drainage system paid dividends on Tuesday.

Read AlsoI have become practical, focus is on ODIs now: Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav seems a person much more in control of things. After having lost his place in the first-choice India team during the Covid-19 pandemic, the left-arm spinner seems to have found his core from this year's IPL. Since the IPL, he has become consistent with his performance and that played a

The match was a low-scoring one but it had more to do with the pitch being damp because of being under covers for four days. By the end of the match, the ball started coming on to the bat better and Anrich Nortje's deliveries started going through at good pace with great carry.

Read AlsoBoys showed great character on tough batting tracks: Shikhar Dhawan

India's stand-in ODI captain Shikhar Dhawan is happy that his team was able to show a lot of character on tough