'Batting second was certainly easier' - Kallis

Jacques Kallis's stolid 91 was in vain as India eased to a five-wicket victory at the Wankhede Stadium. After the match, he talked to the media about South Africa's performances in the series, and looked ahead to the ultimate challenge, the tour of Australia which starts later this week.

I think 240 would have been. It certainly got easier to bat on as the evening wore on. In the afternoon, it wasn't easy to score. We lost a couple of wickets early and had to get the innings back together. But I think it boiled down to the half-chances that we had when we fielded. They certainly weren't easy, but the three or four we put down made a huge difference. We certainly practice enough, so we'd have backed ourselves to take them.

Playing them in these conditions is always tough. Each guy had a game-plan, and I think the new guys learnt a lot. For some, it was their first time in the subcontinent and it will certainly help in their development as cricketers.

We're disappointed to have lost here, but we played some great cricket right through the series, and we're proud of how the boys played. We knew it would be tough when we came here. We've never won a series here, and it's disappointing that we couldn't manage it today, but I thought the way we played at times was unbelievable.

It certainly looked like that, didn't it? In all the day-night games, batting second was certainly easier. In the afternoon, this pitch was a bit slow, but it eased out when they batted. But credit to Rahul [Dravid] and India for seeing it home.

That's how he plays the game. He's an aggressive guy, and when he crosses that white line, he gives his all for the country. That aggressive approach is how he gets the best out of himself, and I thought his displays were very impressive in this series.

I think my role in the team has changed. There's more bowling in the Test matches, and the pressure's off when it comes to bowling in the ODIs.

It's one of the worries that I have, the amount of cricket that's being played. It makes you wonder about the future of the allrounder. You have back-to-back matches and the tours themselves are packed very close together.

It'll be a tough series, but we'll back ourselves. We have a couple of warm-up games, and I think we can really compete against them.

We were trying to rebuild at that stage, and Mark [Boucher] is used to coming in such situations and knocking the ball around. Kempie can be so destructive at the death and we didn't want to risk him at that stage. It didn't work out for us today, but given how he's played recently, he could've had a huge impact at the end.

They're very strong. Some of the young players have put their hands up and come through for them recently. No matter where you play them, they'll be hard to beat. They're an exciting side.