SA ODIs 'eye opener': Indian head coach Rahul Dravid

An all-round performance helped South Africa beat India by four runs in the third ODI completing the whitewash 3-0 at Newlands on Sunday.

"The ODIs were an eye opener. The team hasn't played a lot. It was my first stint with the one-day side," said Dravid at the virtual press conference.

Although Dravid admitted that India "didn't play smart cricket at crucial situation", he stressed that the team will "reflect, learn and get better" going forward.

When asked about what did he make of KL Rahul's captaincy in the ODI format, the head coach said that he will get better.

"He (Rahul) did a good job. It is not easy. He will learn. He is just beginning. The large part of captaincy is execution from players. He will get better," said the former skipper whose Team India had a similar nightmare in South Africa in 2006.

All-rounders Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar made an impact in the ODI series.

When asked will they get more game time in the future, Dravid said that the management will be looking to give them more games.

"He (Chahar) has got the ability to bat. I have seen him in India A. Both him and Shardul are great players. More and more players like them make a big difference. We will look to give more games."

Dravid also noted that the team are looking for a sixth bowling option.

"The idea is to try and develop Venkatesh (Iyer) or Hardik (Pandya) or (Ravindra) Jadeja as the sixth bowling option. We are looking at various things," he said.

Before the ODI series, India, led by Virat Kohli, were defeated by South Africa in the three-match Test series 1-2.