Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has said that the Men in Blue team management needs to make tough calls now that they lost their first match in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022 to South Africa in Perth on Sunday.
South Africa outplayed India in all departments as their pacers blew away the Indian batting on a bouncy pitch at Perth where only Suryakumar Yadav with 68 in 40 balls stood out as India made 133/9 in 20 overs. Lungi Ngidi with 4/29 was the standout bowler.
In reply, David Miller and Aiden Markram hit half-centuries and led the fightback after a quiet first 10 overs and took South Africa past the finish line in the last over with 5 wickets in hand.
India will now have to win both of their remaining matches against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe to make it into the semi-finals, while South Africa needs only one win to qualify for the final four.
Talking about the upcoming matches and India’s performance against South Africa, Harbhajan Singh feels that while this is not the time to panic, the team should consider changing the opening combination considering KL Rahul's continued struggles.
KL Rahul has managed scores of 4,9 and 9 in three outings thus far and India has not passed 40 in powerplay overs in any of the matches.
“They may have to take some tough calls, the team has to think about it going forward. KL Rahul is a great player, we all know that he is a match-winner. But if he is struggling with his form like this, I think you should bring in Rishabh Pant,” Harbhajan said on Sports Tak.
Harbhajan Singh also spoke about how Dinesh Karthik’s potential injury could make way for Deepak Hooda in the middle order while Pant keeps wickets and opens the innings. Karthik left the field in the second half of Proteas' innings holding his back and Pant kept wickets.
“Karthik looks injured, I don't know what his status is. If he is not, Rishabh Pant can open the innings with Rohit Sharma. You get a left-right combination like that. You can also bring in Deepak Hooda and he can even bowl a few overs,” he said.
Another call that Harbhajan Singh made was that India missed Yuzvendra Chahal in Perth and maybe it was time to bring him in place of R Ashwin, who went for 43 runs in the loss to South Africa.
“I also feel they should bring in Yuzvendra Chahal in place of Ashwin. He is a bowler who takes wickets. You don't mind giving away runs as long as you take 2-3 wickets. Chahal is a big match-winner and he is among the highest-ranked T20 bowlers in the world,” he said.
“They might be going with experience and that's why they may be selecting Ashwin. Their team also had a lot of left-handers and they may have looked at that factor as well. But I feel that if you have a good bowler, he will bowl well regardless of whether it is a left-hander or right-hander on strike. This is just about the thought process. Chahal has made his reputation by taking wickets, he has proven he is a big-match winner in these smaller formats. I don't think there is a better leg-spinner than him. It is a mistake to not let him play and if it was in my hands, I wouldn't have let this mistake happen in the first place because I would have included him in the squad," Harbhajan said.
India will next play Bangladesh on Nov 2nd in Adelaide and Zimbabwe on Nov 6th in Melbourne.
