Hardik Pandya made a questionable call during the 2nd T20I against New Zealand© BCCI/Sportzpics
The Indian cricket team made one major change in the playing XI for the 2nd T20I against New Zealand, using Yuzvendra Chahal as a replacement for Umran Malik. Despite being brought in to deliver wickets on a ‘spin-friendly’ surface, Chahal bowled just four overs in the match. When asked about the decision by skipper Hardik Pandya, former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir admitted it was a “massive surprise”. Gambhir even said that he “cannot answer this question”.
“Huge surprise. I can’t answer this question, that too on a wicket like this. Chahal is your number 1 spinner in the T20 format. I just asked him to bowl two overs and he got the important wicket from Finn Allen in that and then it makes no sense to use his full quota of overs,” Gambhir said on Star Sports after the match.
Gambhir agreed that younger players like Arshdeep Singh and Shivam Mavi should be given a chance, but he also believes that if Chahal had completed his full quota of overs, New Zealand would have been out for 80 or 85. The fact that Hardik rather made Deepak Hooda bowl 4 overs was a ‘massive surprise’ for Gambhir.
“Yes, you want to give young boys another chance, like Arshdeep Singh or Shivam Mavi. But then you could have bowled Chahal in the last over too, or earlier. So I feel like he missed a trick. He had New Zeeland bowling.” for maybe 80 or 85 and on this kind of pitch you don’t want to knock the opponent off the hook. Huge surprise, asking Hooda to bowl four overs but not Chahal,” said Gambhir.
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