Harbhajan Singh criticized the Indian team management for not selecting Axar Patel for the opening match of the Super 8 against South Africa on 22 February. Without Patel, who is also the team’s vice-captain, the defending T20 World Cup champions suffered a heavy defeat against South Africa. India lost by 76 runs at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh strongly claimed that Patel should be in the match. He termed India’s decision to ignore the spin bowling all-rounder in favor of another spin bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar as beyond his understanding.
Harbhajan Singh cites Keshav Maharaj as an example
It is believed that the management dropped Patel to handle South Africa’s middle-order batsmen. Singh pointed towards Keshav Maharaj’s performance in the match. The experienced South African spinner took 3 wickets in his 3 over bowling spell.
Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh and Arshdeep Singh got caught in Maharaj’s spin wave. Harbhajan believes that if Akshar is selected for the match, he can do the same.
Harbhajan Singh said in his YouTube channel, “Who did you remove Washington Sundar and play? Your vice-captain, Axar Patel. It was a strange decision. These match-ups are beyond my understanding. Computers show them, and they have no head or tail.”
“Look at Keshav Maharaj, he dismissed Rinku Singh, and he was also bowling to Dubey, then why not hit a six on every ball? All these match-ups are useless, a good bowler can bowl to any type of batsman,” he pointed out in support of his comments.
Akshar Patel deserved to play: Harbhajan Singh
The former Indian cricketer insists that Axar Patel deserved this match. Harbhajan described Washington Sundar as a good player.
“Akshar Patel should have played this match, he is your vice-captain. Washington Sundar did not bowl the first or second over, where he rotated the ball or something. He is a good player, but Axar Patel should have been played in this match,” Singh said.
Meanwhile, Washington Sundar bowled a few overs, taking no wickets and giving away 17 runs. During the run chase, he went to bat at number 5 scoring only 11 runs.
Team India coach told why he plays Washington Sundar
Washington Explaining his decision to bet on Sundar, Team India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said that he trusted Sundar because of his reliability to perform well in the powerplay, while Patel would bowl in the middle overs when the ball starts losing its shine and the pitch gets rough.
“In our analysis, we felt the biggest threats were going to be Quinton de Kock, Ryan Rickelton and David Miller. When you can only pick one of two options, we leaned towards someone who can bowl in the powerplay. Axar can bowl in the powerplay at times. But we feel we have got Washington to the point where he has found a way to be effective in that phase,” Ten Doeschate told Ahmedabad. Said in the press conference.
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