T20 World Cup 2022: "Rohit Sharma has made such interesting calls before" - Indian fans engage in heavy debate over Deepak Hooda's inclusion for Axar Patel against South Africa

Team India named a single change to their playing XI for their clash against South Africa on Sunday, October 30. After playing the same set of players for the first two Super 12 matches of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022, the Men in Blue opted to strengthen their batting by roping in Deepak Hooda in place of Axar Patel.

Axar bowled a solitary over in India's opening contest against Pakistan but completed his full quota of overs during their huge win over the Netherlands. With the contest against the Proteas taking place in Perth, right-arm pacer Hardik Pandya is expected to play a bigger role than the spinners, making the incoming Hooda arguably the sixth bowler in the playing XI.

Moreover, the presence of left-handed batters in the South African side in the form of Quinton de Kock, David Miller, and Rilee Rossouw, encourages India to play an additional off-spinner in addition to Ravichandran Ashwin.

Axar recently played in the home series against South Africa, where he claimed two wickets in three matches at an economy of 9.11.

Fans were caught in two minds over the selection call. Here are some of the reactions:

Hussain

@jrmadrid_1

Why Hooda why not Pant? These decision doesn’t make sense at all. Ashwin is there to counter left handers anyway if really want to strengthen batting alone pant being lefty much sensible option than Hooda.

Why Hooda why not Pant? These decision doesn’t make sense at all. Ashwin is there to counter left handers anyway if really want to strengthen batting alone pant being lefty much sensible option than Hooda.

Gurkirat Singh Gill

@gurkiratsgill

Hooda's definitely a better batter than Axar, but I am not sure if his batting on this pitch is going to be a real differential. Axar, on the other hand, with the ball, provides a bigger differential than Hooda. Hooda doesn't offer a variety in the bowl attack either

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Hooda's definitely a better batter than Axar, but I am not sure if his batting on this pitch is going to be a real differential. Axar, on the other hand, with the ball, provides a bigger differential than Hooda. Hooda doesn't offer a variety in the bowl attack either

Beagle Bilal

@Beagle_Bilal

@AbijitG It still makes sense to have Hooda open and even if India loses that will be fine . KL should be dropped for good. He has exhausted all his chances and needs to be penalized . This is ICT not bloody Karnataka Ranji side .

@AbijitG It still makes sense to have Hooda open and even if India loses that will be fine . KL should be dropped for good. He has exhausted all his chances and needs to be penalized . This is ICT not bloody Karnataka Ranji side .

srikrishna 🏏🏀

@1998Srikrishna

With Hooda in, India have a lengthy batting lineup. KL gotta start hitting from ball one.

With Hooda in, India have a lengthy batting lineup. KL gotta start hitting from ball one.

Rohit anand

@rohit_dr_infi

Like the look of this team. With Hooda, a little more depth in the batting which seemed lacking. Only issue is just one spinner.
#INDvsSA

Like the look of this team. With Hooda, a little more depth in the batting which seemed lacking. Only issue is just one spinner.
#INDvsSA

Mehul 🇮🇳

@mahzz04

Bcz management wants to back KL rahul and Deepak Hooda included bcz they want extra batter and extra off spinner as they have a more lefties twitter.com/VibhuBhola/sta…

Vaibhav Bhola 🇮🇳

@VibhuBhola

If Deepak Hooda Can Replace Axar Patel , Why Can’t Rishab Pant Replace KL Rahul ?

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If Deepak Hooda Can Replace Axar Patel , Why Can’t Rishab Pant Replace KL Rahul ?

Bcz management wants to back KL rahul and Deepak Hooda included bcz they want extra batter and extra off spinner as they have a more lefties 😇 twitter.com/VibhuBhola/sta…

Sandeep Kumar Boddapati

@sandeepskb128

Hooda in for Axar. An all right handed batting attack from India! SA pace attack and Maharaj's spin won't mind this
#INDvsSA #T20WorldCup

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Hooda in for Axar. An all right handed batting attack from India! SA pace attack and Maharaj's spin won't mind this
#INDvsSA #T20WorldCup

CricketCult

@CultCricket

#DeepakHooda #Hooda in for Axar a bold move but a right one? time will tell. Remember Rohit Sharma has gone in with Jayant Yadav when he was with MI and made such surprising calls before #INDvSA #RohitSharma𓃵 #ViratKohli #BCCI #T20WC2022

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#DeepakHooda #Hooda in for Axar a bold move but a right one? time will tell. Remember Rohit Sharma has gone in with Jayant Yadav when he was with MI and made such surprising calls before #INDvSA #RohitSharma𓃵 #ViratKohli #BCCI #T20WC2022

ansh gupta

@ansh11_gupta

@fwildecricket As per numbers, shouldn’t pant for axar made more sense considering Pant has a better game against Pace & Bounce as opposed to hooda plus India can send him as a floater to tackle Maharaj.( I don’t see hooda getting a bowl in this game as Rohit has been reluctant in bowling him)

@fwildecricket As per numbers, shouldn’t pant for axar made more sense considering Pant has a better game against Pace & Bounce as opposed to hooda plus India can send him as a floater to tackle Maharaj.( I don’t see hooda getting a bowl in this game as Rohit has been reluctant in bowling him)

Owais Untoo

@owaisuntoo22

@bleedingkoshur Axar can go for runs against left handers and hooda is a far better batsman than axar..
It is very good selection in my opinion

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@bleedingkoshur Axar can go for runs against left handers and hooda is a far better batsman than axar..
It is very good selection in my opinion

Harshit Anand

@imHarshitAnand

Expectedly, India gets in Hooda. Perhaps, he will be a floater. No.5?

#T20WorldCup #INDvsSA #Hooda twitter.com/imHarshitAnand…

Harshit Anand

@imHarshitAnand

Think only one possible change
could be made by India, and that would be whether they would want to go ahead with Axar Patel against a left-hand dominant SA, on a pace-friendly Perth wicket or not. But if not him, who?

Hooda can be a value addition with 2 overs, and batting. twitter.com/ICC/status/158…

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Think only one possible change
could be made by India, and that would be whether they would want to go ahead with Axar Patel against a left-hand dominant SA, on a pace-friendly Perth wicket or not. But if not him, who?

Hooda can be a value addition with 2 overs, and batting. twitter.com/ICC/status/158…

Expectedly, India gets in Hooda. Perhaps, he will be a floater. No.5?

#T20WorldCup #INDvsSA #Hooda twitter.com/imHarshitAnand…

Abdul Wasay

@andy_abdulwasay

India dropped Axar Patel and playing Deepak Hooda who is a batting all rounder and opting to bat as well is a surprising call. When you are playing an extra batter then teams prefer chasing India did the opposite. #INDvSA

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India dropped Axar Patel and playing Deepak Hooda who is a batting all rounder and opting to bat as well is a surprising call. When you are playing an extra batter then teams prefer chasing India did the opposite. #INDvSA

Naman Agarwal

@CoverDrivenFor4

There's a good chance that there might be a collapse with this bowling line up on this pitch. That is where Hooda comes in. If the top order get off to a good start, Hooda is not used. And that's completely fine imo.

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There's a good chance that there might be a collapse with this bowling line up on this pitch. That is where Hooda comes in. If the top order get off to a good start, Hooda is not used. And that's completely fine imo.

Sandip Singh Rathore

@SS_Rathore_

Tactical blunder by @ImRo45 #RahulDravid . Dropping the only left handed in your team and picking #Hooda

Interestingly @klrahul again makes it to playing XI twitter.com/ss_rathore_/st…

Sandip Singh Rathore

@SS_Rathore_

Let’s see whether #TeamIndia learn from their mistake & replace @klrahul with @RishabhPant17 Or will they still continue to play him irrespective of his continuous failures & selfish knocks which ultimately dents team chances of winning the match.
@T20WorldCup @ICC #INDvSA @BCCI

Let’s see whether #TeamIndia learn from their mistake & replace @klrahul with @RishabhPant17 Or will they still continue to play him irrespective of his continuous failures & selfish knocks which ultimately dents team chances of winning the match.
@T20WorldCup @ICC #INDvSA @BCCI

Tactical blunder by @ImRo45 #RahulDravid . Dropping the only left handed in your team and picking #Hooda

Interestingly @klrahul again makes it to playing XI twitter.com/ss_rathore_/st…

Rajeesh Nair 🇮🇳

@iRajeeshNair

@cric_kiran Between Hooda and Pant, I will always pick Hooda right now. Pant is not in good form when it comes to T20 plus if you compare the two, I back Hooda to clear the big Aussie grounds more often.

@cric_kiran Between Hooda and Pant, I will always pick Hooda right now. Pant is not in good form when it comes to T20 plus if you compare the two, I back Hooda to clear the big Aussie grounds more often.

Kishor Varma

@kisu_v

Not sure if Deepak Hooda fits into the position of a sixth bowler and a batting allrounder on a quick bouncy Perth wicket against SA, a side loaded with genuine pace bowlers and conditions suited to their bowling. Why not Harshal? #INDvSA #T20WorldCup #CricketLive

Not sure if Deepak Hooda fits into the position of a sixth bowler and a batting allrounder on a quick bouncy Perth wicket against SA, a side loaded with genuine pace bowlers and conditions suited to their bowling. Why not Harshal? #INDvSA #T20WorldCup #CricketLive

Team India won the toss and elected to bat against South Africa

The Men in Blue are back in the city where they first landed over three weeks ago ahead of the tournament. The team had a 10-day training camp, which included two practice matches against Western Australia XI.

Rohit Sharma won the toss for the third successive time and much like in the previous contest against the Netherlands, he had no hesitation in choosing to bat first.

The conditions in Perth, which boasts one of the bounciest and fastest tracks in the world, prompted India to alter their winning combination just a bit. The clash between the two heavyweights is a crucial clash for the group, especially with Pakistan's chances hanging in the balance.

Did Rohit Sharma's side make the right call by benching Axar Patel for Deepak Hooda? Let us know what you think.

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