India vs South Africa: 3 things KL Rahul would have done differently as captain
The Indian selectors rested a number of key players - Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah - for the T20I series against South Africa. The Indian camp was hit with injuries to KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav and this saw the selectors elevate Rishabh Pant to lead the side.
It has not been an easy initiation for Pant as captain of Team India. His side have lost both matches till date, and while, conditions and the South African players have played their part, there have been instances where Pant looked rather hassled as the captain. KL Rahul, who would have led the side had he not been injured, has grown as a leader in the recent months and his absence is surely being felt.
South Africa win the 2nd T20I by 4 wickets and are now 2-0 up in the five match series.
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Here we take a three things KL Rahul would have done differently as India captain.
#3 Using spinners in the powerplay
While Bhuvneshwar Kumar was excellent in the last game at Cuttack, the other seamers could not quite provide the spark. Pant tried Hardik Pandya, but waited for the end of first six overs to end before introducing Yuzvendra Chahal into the attack.
This is where KL Rahul could have veered in a different direction. In the IPL, he was not shy of introducing Ravi Bishnoi during the powerplay. India had two experienced spinners in Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal who could have been used in the first six overs and this could have tested the South African batters.
#2. Using Axar Patel against right-handers
Axar Patel is a wily customer and his exploits in the IPL is proof that he is a frugal bowler. Rishabh Pant may have missed a trick when he did not bring him into the attack when right-handers Henrich Klaasen and Temba Bavuma were new at the crease.
Pant opted to go with Yuzvendra Chahal and Harshal Patel and when Axar was given the ball, both batters had sussed the conditions and looked set. KL Rahul has enough experience and he could well have given Axar the ball ahead of Harshal Patel.
Former India bowler and coach of Gujarat Titans, Ashish Nehra was not too impressed with the way Pant handled the bowlers.
'Rishabh Pant also needs to take a look, he held back Axar Patel for so long. There were two right-hand batters at that time. I don't see any reason why Axar Patel was not given an over at that time, Nehra to Cricbuzz after the match.
#1. Batting position of Axar Patel and Dinesh Karthik
In a rather surprising move, Axar Patel was sent in ahead of Dinesh Karthik in the second T20I. Axar never looked settled and was knocked over fairly cheaply by Anrich Nortje.
Dinesh Karthik, who struggled in his initial few balls, found his range in the final two overs and creamed a number of sixes to give India some late momentum and saw their total soar to 147. As such, it would have been interesting had Karthik faced a couple more overs. This could have taken place if KL Rahul was the captain of the side.
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