IND vs SA | We thought we were about 15 runs short, but both batters and bowlers did their jobs - Rishabh Pant

India's stand-in-captain Rishabh Pant credited the Indian bowlers after India registered the first win of the five-match series against South Africa in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday (June 14).

The Men in Blue did not get the best of the starts in the five-match T20I series against the visiting South African team as they lost the first two games. However, they bounced back in a must-win encounter in the third T20I to seal an impressive win by 48 runs to keep the series alive. 

Talking in the post-match presentation about the match, Pant hailed the all-round execution by his players that led team India to a convincing win and expected the same in the remaining two games.

"I talked about execution, and that's what we saw today, from both batters and bowlers. We thought we were about 15 short, but we weren't thinking too much about that; the bowlers did a fantastic job. 

Especially in India, the spinners play a big role in the middle overs to contain the batters. So there is pressure on them to perform, but in such matches, when it comes off, this is what will happen," Pant quoted.

The middle order of India has clearly struggled in the absence of Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav, and talking about the same; the wicketkeeper batter noted that it's not a good thing for the team, and they'll try to improve on that in the next match.

"I don't think it's a good thing for us (middle-order not performing), but after a good start, it's difficult for new batters to go straight away. We will try to improve in the next match. We have to make sure that we finish the game with a bigger margin," Pant added.

Pant, too, has failed to lead the team from the front with the bat, with the score tally of 6,5 and 29. It's not the first time the pressure of leading a side got better of Pant. The stand-in skipper performed averagely with the bat in the recently concluded Indian Premier League, but there is no denial of him making a solid comeback after a slump.