Team India failed to defend 212 runs in the first T20 match against South Africa at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Thursday. Barring Avesh Khan, all five bowlers conceded runs at an economy of 10 and above. India’s premier leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal scored 26 runs in just 13 balls. It was one of those rare days when Chahal did not complete his full quota of four overs. Captain Rishabh Pant went with Hardik Pandya’s pace and Axar Patel’s left-arm spin, who conceded runs at an economy of 18 and 10 respectively.
He is from 1st T20I.
South Africa won by 7 wickets and took a 1–0 lead in the 5-match series. #TeamIndia would like to make a comeback in the second T20I.
Scorecard – https://t.co/YOoyTQmu1p #INDvSA @Paytm pic.twitter.com/1raHnQf4rm
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 9, 2022
Former India cricketer Ashish Nehra feels India missed a trick by not bowling four overs to Chahal. Nehra also said that India head coach Rahul Dravid should have sent a message to Pant asking him to allow Chahal to bowl.
Nehra said, “Rishabh Pant is a young captain, he will learn and hopefully he will get better. Now, if Dravid feels that Chahal should bowl an over, obviously a message can be sent to him. Have to keep it simple and be proactive.” On Cricbuzz.
“It came as a great surprise to me that a bowler like him bowled only 2 overs today. He should have bowled the van der Dussen-Miller pair, especially at the stage when South Africa were chasing. Rishabh Pant made sure Rooply made a mistake over there. He was also frantic in the powerplays, using five bowlers for six overs,” Nehra said.
Pant was named the captain of the Indian team for the five-match T20I series against South Africa after KL Rahul was ruled out of the series due to injury before the first game. Hardik Pandya is the vice-captain of the team for the series. The second match of the series will be played at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Sunday.