Yuzvendra Chahal bowled only 2 overs in the second T20I against New Zealand in Lucknow.
Team India’s stand-in captain in T20Is, Hardik Pandya, left Gautam Gambhir upset with some of his bowling plans during the team’s hard-fought yet not-so-good 6-wicket win in the must-win second T20I against New Zealand at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
The former Indian opener was particularly baffled by the Indian cricket team’s surprising decision not to allow Yuzvendra Chahal to complete his quota of four overs in the second T20I against the Black Caps, despite the fact that the leg-spinner dismissed Finn Allen during his 2 overs, including a maiden over.
He further found it tough to make sense of Deepak Hooda completing their quota of four overs instead of Chahal during India's T20I series leveling win in Lucknow on Sunday (February 29).
Gautam Gambhir was quoted as saying to Star Sports: “Chahal is your No.1 spinner in the T20 format. Asking him to bowl only two overs where he got the wicket of Finn Allen and not using his quota of four overs makes no sense to me. Yes, you want to give chances to young guys line Arshdeep Singh and Shivam Mavi. But then you could have bowled Chahal in the last or second-last over.”
Gambhir was surprised to see Deepak Hooda complete his quota of four overs instead of Chahal. Notably, Hooda dismissed Glenn Phillips and returned with the figures of 4-0-17-1 in the second T20I against the Black Caps.
He signed off by saying, “For me, Hardik missed a trick as Chahal could have helped India bowl New Zealand for around 80-85. On this kind of a wicket, you don’t want to let the opposition off the hook. But then again, I was surprised after Deepak Hooda was asked to bowl four overs and not Chahal.”