In the second Twenty20 International between India and the West Indies, RP Singh questioned Hardik Pandya’s leadership.
On August 6, the West Indies were given a 153-run goal by the Men in Blue at Providence, Guyana. Their bowlers were unable to contain the opposition’s total as the hosts won by two wickets with seven balls remaining to grab a 2-0 series lead.
In his analysis of the match on JioCinema, Singh said that given the turn that Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravi Bishnoi were able to get out of the pitch, Hardik Pandya should have bowled Axar Patel. He clarified:
“Even Axar won’t be aware of his function. He should have been bowled, in my opinion. It’s not that you can’t be bowled even if there are two left-handed hitters in front of you. You need to consider how he would be bowled. When Yuzi Chahal and Bishnoi were bowling, the wicket had spin.”
The former Indian seamer noted that the all-around spin bowler might have thought of a plan to keep the roving Nicholas Pooran at bay. He clarified:
“Axar wasn’t even given the ball, thus it was unclear how he would have bowled. The fact that you are playing him but depriving him of the ball is somewhat detrimental to him as well. Yes, Nicholas Pooran had a good at-bat. You as the bowler had the option of giving him a single, putting the other batter on strike, and then bowling dots to him.”
Pooran scored 67 runs on 40 balls on Sunday. Axar’s destructive performance against the left-arm spinner in the first T20I, when he faced four pitches, resulted in 13 runs, including a six and a four, which may have made Pandya hesitant to include him in the attack.
RP Singh on Hardik Pandya not handing Yuzvendra Chahal the 18th over: “I feel he miscalculated“
RP Singh commended Hardik Pandya for leading the West Indies team at the start of their innings. He believes that by depriving Yuzvendra Chahal of his final over, the Indian captain may have made a calculating error. He stated:
From what we can see at first, the leadership was sound. You came here to bowl and get wickets for yourself. He then waited till Nicholas Pooran was batting before introducing the spinners. Then Pooran was freed by Mukesh Kumar. I believe he made a mistake after that.
According to the former cricketer-turned-commentator, the cunning spinner ought to have been granted the 18th over. He concluded:
“Yuzi Chahal took two wickets in a single over, and there was a run-out as well. Eight wickets were gone for West Indies. In the final over, it would have been challenging if another wicket had fallen. Yuzi Chahal, in my opinion, ought to have bowled the 18th over.”
Romario Shepherd was run out in the 16th over of the West Indies innings, and Chahal took two wickets while allowing only three runs. Arshdeep Singh and Mukesh Kumar, on the other hand, bowled the 18th and 19th overs, respectively. The pair failed to allow Chahal to bowl his last over as they ultimately gave up the necessary 21 runs in 11 pitches.
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