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India won two consecutive matches in the ongoing series against the Afghanistan cricket team with pure dominance. In the second match of the three-T20I series, the India National Cricket Team claimed the match in 14.5 overs, chasing a target of 160 runs.
Despite the conventional win on September 15, former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif pointed out some areas where skipper Shreyas Iyer is yet to improve. Kaif reckoned there is a lack of clarity in bowling, especially in the death overs.
Mohammad Kaif raised concerns about India's death bowling tactics
Mohammad Kaif raised his concerns over India's death bowling after the second match. In the series opener, captain Shreyas Iyer handed the ball to Shivam Dube for the final over of the innings, and in the second match, he asked Nitish Kumar Reddy to do the same.
According to Kaif, both Reddy and Dube are supposed to deliver in the middle overs, not in the death overs. For the death bowling, regular pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh are the only two options Iyer needs to consider, as the former cricketer believes.
Mohammad Kaif suggests Shreyas Iyer utilise Nitish Kumar Reddy in the middle overs
Nitish Kumar Reddy was expensive in the first match against Afghanistan, but he did extremely well in the previous match, taking three wickets. Probably because of Reddy's rhythm, the skipper might have thought to give him the ball for the final over.
Nitish Kumar Reddy bowled by reading the pitch and adapting. He gave only 12 runs off his first 2 overs; in his last match, he had conceded 30 runs in 2 overs. He had to bowl the last over today, which is not his role; his role is to bowl in the middle overs," Mohammad Kaif said on Cricbuzz.
Shreyas Iyer needs to learn that in the future. No one other than Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah should bowl the 19th and 20th overs. They should never deviate from that. He should never give those overs to anyone else," he added.
Nitish Kumar Reddy took 3 wickets in 3 overs
Surprisingly, Nitish Kumar Reddy, who took three wickets, was not allowed to deliver all four overs of his quota. He took three wickets in three overs only for an economy rate of 8.00. Kaif questioned why, if the bowler was doing well, then Shreyas Iyer did not utilise him for another over.
"Nitish Kumar Reddy was bowling so well, he had to complete his four-over spell. He bowled the first 2 overs so well; why didn't you make him complete his spell? I don't think we needed six bowlers," Kaif questioned Shreyas Iyer.
With the win on September 15th night, India claims the three-match series, with one more match yet to be played. The third and final match of the contest is scheduled to be held on September 17 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The Afghanistan cricket team will have to bounce back strongly to get at least one win from the series.
