Former India batter Robin Uthappa and former South African pacer Dale Steyn have made contrasting observations on the Proteas' outing in the ongoing T20I series.
India and South Africa will face off in the final T20I in Ahmedabad on Friday.
Uthappa opined that while the visitors have been very competitive, inconsistency has let them down in the white-ball games.
'South Africa have played very competitively, but they've been a bit hot and cold in the T20I series. That said, it has still been very entertaining. I thought they bowled really well, while their batting has been a little inconsistent.
'It's going to be an interesting contest (in Ahmedabad) because they will want to level the series. Overall, they've had a great tour. They dominated the Test series (2-0) and were competitive in the white-ball formats as well. India came back strongly, but South Africa will want to win the next one and head home with their heads held high,' Uthappa said on JioHotstar.
Steyn, however, said his team had "exceeded expectations" on their tour of India.
'Winning the Test series was outstanding, and they were very competitive in the ODIs. They might feel they let the first ODI slip after winning the toss and losing early wickets while chasing. Had they won that, they could have finished the ODI series 2-1,' said Steyn.
'Out of the three T20Is so far, India have been the better team. They bowled South Africa out cheaply in one game, conceded runs in another, but then dominated again in Dharamshala. If India win the series, I would say well played -- they would deserve it. But I'm hoping South Africa turn it around. They've had a wonderful tour,' he said.
He acknowledged that Abhishek Sharma's batting, especially the young opener's cover drive, was a treat to watch.
'Abhishek Sharma hits a lot of sixes and plays fearless shots, but I personally enjoy watching a classical cover drive or someone walking down the wicket and hitting straight back over the top. When Gill gets going, it's great to watch.
'I remember Shubman Gill scoring heavily against SRH when I was the bowling coach there. He played beautifully. Even when you're on the losing side, you enjoy watching someone like him bat. He makes it look very easy -- elegant and pleasing on the eye,' Steyn added.
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