Ashish Nehra believes Rishabh Pant should have bowled Axar Patel earlier in the second T20I. Axar Patel bowled one over in the second T20I, giving up 19 runs.
After a four-wicket loss in the second T20I in Cuttack on Sunday, India fell behind South Africa 0-2 in the ongoing five-match T20I series. Even after taking Proteas wickets inside the powerplay, the hosts were unable to defend 148. Only Bhuvneshwar Kumar took four wickets with the ball, while the rest of the bowlers struggled. Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel failed to make an impact on the game. The latter only bowled one over, allowing 19 runs. Former India players Ashish Nehra and Parthiv Patel believe Pant could have introduced Axar earlier than the 12th over to put pressure on Klaasen.
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Ashish Nehra believes Rishabh Pant should have bowled Axar Patel earlier
“It is a difficult decision (changes in Indian side for third T20I). The changes will be determined by the conditions in Visakhapatnam and the type of thinking you have while keeping all of the players in mind. Rishabh Pant should look at the way the game went in the middle period for 9-10 overs. There were two right-handers, so Axar Patel was held back. It’s not like there was any guarantee if he had bowled his 2-3 overs earlier, but Pant still deserves a look “Nehra stated on Cricbuzz.
“When we talked about Chahal, you could have brought Axar in earlier. Some bowlers can bowl at any time during the game, while others can only bowl at certain times or in certain situations. So I believe Rishabh Pant held Pant back for far too long “He continued.
On the same subject, Parthiv stated: “Reading the game becomes critical in such situations, particularly in this format. Klassen initially struggled and had to shift gears. Despite his excellent spin play today, there was a chance to pit him against Axar Patel.”
South Africa won the toss in the second T20I and chose to bowl fast. Shreyas Iyer top-scored for India with 40 runs in 20 overs. Dinesh Karthik was unbeaten after 30 balls. Anrich Nortje took two wickets for South Africa.
Even with four wickets from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, India were unable to defend their total. On Tuesday, India and South Africa will play the third Twenty20 International.