Ranchi, Oct 9 (IANS): India pace bowler Shardul Thakur says he wants to give more depth to India's batting, the same way Australian quicks Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc have been doing for quite some time now.
Shardul played a handy knock of 33 runs and shared a 93-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Sanju Samson (86 not out) in the chase of 250 against South Africa before the hosts lost by nine runs in the first One-day International at Lucknow on October 6.
With the second ODI set to be played in Ranchi later on Sunday, Shardul said he has been focusing on his batting to make a difference in the game.
"If you see teams who have done very well at (the) international level, their batting line-up has been quite deep. Like Australia for instance, they have the likes of Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc coming at 8 or 9. Even for that matter England. I've been focusing on my batting for quite a long time now. Obviously, batting at No. 7 or the one coming at No. 9, if they can contribute it's always great. That gives you a cushion," said Shardul in the pre-match press conference on Saturday.
"We also can have our batting line up deep and make the difference -- the difference of 15-20 runs that can be crucial in winning the match, especially in white ball cricket," he added.
Defending the India bowlers, the 30-year-old said, "It's not fair to criticise only the Indians, even their (South Africa) bowlers are taken to cleaners. We won the T20I series, but they also were slammed."
"I think before questioning the consistency we should see how the wicket was, the conditions. Sometimes in an ODI match more than 350-runs are scored so in that case every bowler got hit. There has been no one-sided match for India, be it on a batting or a bowling-friendly pitch, most have been competitive. We have won most matches and showed consistency."
South Africa's Keshav Maharaj said that with the given talent in the country, India could field four to five proper international sides.
"I wouldn't say it's a second-string Indian side. India is blessed with so much talent that they could probably field four to five proper international sides. A lot of the guys in the Indian team have IPL and international experience. Shikhar Dhawan has played numerous ODIs; Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson -- the talent that's in the Indian team, I wouldn't look at it as weakened. They are still world-class performers out there."