Fromer Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer has advised India to drop left-arm spinner Axar Patel for leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi for their must-win T20I against South Africa on Tuesday (June 14). India currently trail 0-2 in the five-match series.
Incidentally, Axar has had underwhelming returns in the first two games of the series. He conceded 40 runs for one wicket in the first T20I, though his economy rate was the second-lowest among Indian bowlers in the high-scoring game. He wasn’t given the ball until the 12th over in the second match and went for 19 runs in that without taking a wicket.
Speaking on ESPNcricinfo, Wasim Jaffer also talked about leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s dip in form from IPL 2022 to this series and the importance of building pressure and taking wickets in the middle overs.
“Yuzvendra Chahal, how well he bowled in the IPL, won the purple cap too – we haven’t seen that form in these two matches. The spinners’ role in T20 cricket is very important. If you (as a team) don’t put pressure and get wickets in the middle-overs, you end up conceding 70-80 runs in the last five overs and that’s what we’ve been seeing here,” he said.
“Axar Patel hasn’t been able to bowl economically and is being attacked so I’ll personally want them to try Ravi Bishnoi because a leg-spinner will give you better options,” he added.
However, the 21-year-old hasn’t been in his best form of late. In IPL 2022 he picked up 13 wickets, less than half of Chahal’s tally, at an economy rate of 8.44 runs per over.
Will want Chahal and Hardik to perform better – Wasim Jaffer
The 44-year-old also expressed hope for better bowling performances from leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and all-rounder Hardik Pandya. He added:
“I’ll want Yuzvendra Chahal to perform better as well. The performance we saw from Hardik Pandya in the IPL final, we haven’t seen it here either. He bowled just one over in the first match and was a bit expensive [in the second].”
“The brilliant new-ball bowling by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh, and even Harshal Patel isn’t being backed up by the spinners and the … fourth seamer. That’s where I think there’s a dire need for improvement,” he concluded.
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