IND vs WI: "Axar Patel Should Have Been Bowled" - RP Singh Critical Of Hardik Pandya's Captaincy In 2nd T20I

Former India National Cricket Team left-arm seamer RP Singh has questioned the captaincy of Hardik Pandya in the second T20I against West Indies and said that the skipper should have allowed the left-arm spinner Axar Patel to bowl in the match.

The 29-year-old all-rounder wasn’t properly utilized in the second T20I at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Sunday, August 06. He scored 14 runs while batting at No.7 and when it came to bowling, he wasn’t given a single over by Pandya.

Speaking on JioCinema, Singh said that even Axar wouldn’t know what his role is in the team. He added that leg-spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravi Bishnoi were getting a good amount of help from the surface and Pandya should have at least tried handing over the ball to Axar. He elaborated:

“Even Axar won’t know what his role is. I feel he should have been bowled. It’s not that if you have two left-handed batters in front of you, you can’t be bowled. You have to see how he can be bowled. There was spin seen on the wicket when Yuzi Chahal and Bishnoi were bowling.”

“It was to be seen how Axar would have bowled but he wasn’t handed the ball at all. It’s a little bad for him as well that you are playing him but not giving him the ball. Yes, Nicholas Pooran was batting well. As a bowler, you could have given him a single and got the other batter on strike and bowled dots to him.”

RP Singh Shares His Views On Yuzvendra Chahal Not Completing His 4-Over Spell

One of the main talking points from the second T20I loss of India against West Indies was Yuzvendra Chahal not completing his 4-over spell despite bowling brilliantly.

The senior leg-spinner bowled his 3rd over in the 16th over of the innings and completely shifted the momentum of the game towards his side. He dismissed Jason Holder and Shimron Hetmyer and Romario Shepherd also got run out in the same over.

Many expected that Chahal would return to complete his spell in the 18th over, but Hardik Pandya had different plans as he trusted his pacers to do the job for him.

Meanwhile, RP Singh said that Pandya’s captaincy was good initially, but he miscalculated and didn’t give the over to Chahal, which eventually led to India’s defeat in the match. He said:

“If we see at the start, the captaincy was good. You came to bowl yourself and picked up wickets. Then he waited to introduce the spinners when Nicholas Pooran was batting. Then Mukesh Kumar got Pooran out. After that, I feel he miscalculated.

“Yuzi Chahal picked up two wickets in an over and there was a run-out as well along with that. West Indies had lost eight wickets. If another wicket had fallen, it would have been difficult in the last over. I feel Yuzi Chahal should have bowled the18th over.”