IND vs SA: Sanjay Bangar Suggests Two Changes In India's Playing XI vs South Africa For The 3rd T20I

Former team India batting coach Sanjay Bangar suggested a couple of changes in the Rishabh Pant-led Indian side for the third T20 International match against South Africa on Tuesday.

The Men in Blue are on the brink of a series loss after suffering back-to-back defeats in the first two fixtures and are in a must-win situation if at all they aim to come from behind to clinch the five-match series.

India is in a do-or-die position for the third T20I

Despite putting up a formidable 211 in the first T20I match, the Indian bowlers were not at their best, as South Africa chased their highest total in T20 Internationals on the back of brisk fifties by Rassie van der Dussen (75*) and David Miller (64*).

While South Africa has hit all the areas right be it their batting or bowling, India has stuttered in each department in the first two matches. If the bowlers let them down in the big chase in the first T20I then the batters didn’t put any noteworthy performance to put up a commendable score in the second.

Arshdeep Singh in place of Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi for Axar Patel: Sanjay Bangar

Bangar, who worked with the Indian men’s team as their batting coach from 2014 to 2019, recommended playing Arshdeep Singh and Ravi Bishnoi in place of Avesh Khan and Axar Patel respectively.

Avesh has bowled decent spells in the two games with economy rates of 8.8 and 5.7 but couldn’t pick a single wicket while Axar returned with expensive spells from a couple of outings – 1/40 from four overs and 0/19 from one over. The all-rounder also failed to impress with the bat in Cuttack, 10 off 11 balls after being sent to bat ahead of Dinesh Karthik.

“We have a lot of options for the first six overs, so we can try out Arshdeep in place of Avesh Khan. Who can be played in place of Axar Patel? One option can be to play Bishnoi. If two wrist-spinners can give wickets to the Indian team in the middle overs, then they can break the momentum slightly,” Bangar told Star Sports.

The third T20I between the two sides will be played at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday (June 14).

Also Read: IND vs SA: I’ll Want Them To Try Ravi Bishnoi Instead Of Axar Patel – Wasim Jaffer