IND vs SA: Sunil Gavaskar Shares His Opinion On Rishabh Pant, Rahul Dravid's Decision To Send Axar Patel Ahead Of Dinesh Karthik In 2nd T20I

Legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar has shared his opinion on India captain Rishabh Pant and head coach Rahul Dravid’s decision to send all-rounder Axar Patel ahead of veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik in the batting order in the second T20I.

The second T20 International match of the five-match T20 International series between India and South Africa was played at the Barabati Stadium, Cuttack on Sunday, June 12.

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Rishabh Pant-led India faced their second consecutive defeat of the five-match T20I series against Temba Bavuma-led South Africa and now South Africa have a 2-0 lead in the series.

In the 2nd T20I, after losing the toss and batting first, India were able to post 148/6 on the board and while defending the target, Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Reeza Hendricks, Dwaine Pretorius and Rassie van der Dussen in the powerplay overs still India lost the match by 4 wickets after Heinrich Klaasen’s batting masterclass.

Meanwhile, Indian management’s decision to send Axar ahead of Karthik after Hardik Pandya’s dismissal with 7 overs remaining left many cricket pundits surprised.

They don’t necessarily have to hit sixes from the time they come in – Sunil Gavaskar on “finishers”

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar was left baffled by the move of the Indian management to send all-rounder Axar ahead of veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Karthik.

Speaking on Star Sports, he said that the players, who are labelled as finishers, can be sent to bat early on in the innings so that they can take their time before going aggressive.

“Sometimes there are these labels like ‘finisher’. And when you talk about a finisher you think he will come to bat only after the 15th over. He can’t come in the 12th or the 13th over. And we have seen these happen in the IPL as well. A lot of teams have only kept their big hitters for the last 4-5 overs,” he said.

“When actually, if they had been sent earlier, because they have the ability to work things around, they don’t necessarily have to hit sixes from the time they come in. The fact that when they get to the batting area and work the ball around, they get the feel of the wicket and they can bat accordingly in the last 4-5 overs,” Gavaskar added.

Also Read: IND vs SA: We Could Have Bowled Better, Hope We Improve – Rishabh Pant After 4-Wicket Defeat In 2nd T20I At The Barabati Stadium

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