"I thought he was a bit confused about how to handle Axar" - Abhinav Mukund on how Hardik Pandya should use his bowlers in 4th IND-WI T20I
Abhinav Mukund feels Hardik Pandya was originally a little confused about where to bowl Axar Patel in the ongoing T20I series between India and the West Indies. However, he reckons the Indian skipper used the left-arm spinner well in the third T20I.
Axar bowled only two overs in the first T20I and wasn't given a bowl in the second game. On the flip side, he bowled out his full quota of four overs by the 10th over of the Windies innings in the third T20I in Guyana on Tuesday.
While previewing the fourth T20I on Jio Cinema, Mukund was asked how Hardik Pandya should use his bowlers, to which he responded:
"I thought Hardik Pandya's captaincy was on point in terms of the third T20I. He used Axar in overs that he likes bowling. He likes bowling in the powerplay and just after the powerplay. He is not too much of a later overs' bowler and I thought he was a bit confused about how to handle Axar."
The former Indian opener wants Hardik to use Mukesh Kumar more judiciously. He elaborated:
"Not only that, I feel he could have given Mukesh Kumar maybe an over or two before the couple of overs that he bowled at the death. These are the things that he might change up a little bit in the fourth T20I."
Mukund expects the fourth T20I in Lauderhill, Florida, on Saturday (August 12) to be a high-scoring affair. He highlighted that the Indian skipper should rotate his spinners nicely as he did in the third T20I and maybe give Mukesh an over before the 14th or 15th over of the West Indies innings to prepare him for the death.
"I want him to use his bowlers better" - RP Singh on Hardik Pandya
![Hardik Pandya bowled out Axar Patel before Nicholas Pooran came to the crease. [P/C: Twitter]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2023/08/d2c37-16918181219371-1920.jpg?w=500)
However, RP Singh wasn't too happy with Hardik Pandya's call to bowl Axar Patel four overs at a stretch. He said:
"I want him to use his bowlers better because he used a lot of spinners in different-different ways in the third T20I. He gave four consecutive overs to Axar Patel. I feel he is a little confused with regards to Axar Patel's bowling."
The former Indian pacer concurred with Mukund's views that Mukesh Kumar shouldn't be reserved solely for the death overs. He stated:
"Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal weren't bowled where they could have taken maximum wickets because of that. Along with that, Mukesh Kumar can be given some bowling in the powerplay for sure. It is not that Mukesh Kumar is only a death bowler."
Hardik and Arshdeep Singh bowled an over apiece with the new ball in the third T20I, with the spinners bowling the next nine overs. Mukesh Kumar was introduced into the attack only in the 18th over and finished with figures of 2/19 in his two-over spell.