The Indian team entered the five-match T20I series against South Africa with a 12-match winning streak. And now, the team is on the verge of giving away the home series to the Proteas, with two consecutive losses in the first two games.
India showed a great performance with the bat in the first game but failed to replicate the same in their bowling. In the second game, it was the batting debacle that took India down.
Rishabh Pant, leading the team in absence of KL Rahul, was questioned for several of the decisions he took in the first two games. Giving Yuzvendra Chahal to just 2.1 overs in the first match, and sending in Akshar Patel ahead of Dinesh Karthik in the second game were some of the decisions that met with raised eyebrows.
Former India batter Wasim Jaffer, in his verdict about the 24-year-old captain, said that he feels Pant gets nervous in critical situations but added that he will get better with time.
"Yes, we saw something similar in the IPL as well. I feel the more he captains, the better he'll get. But, yes, at this stage, I think when the match gets tight, he panics a bit," Jaffer told ESPNcricinfo.
Pant also made waves in the recently concluded IPL 2022 when he attempted to call back his batters to the dugout following a controversial umpiring call on a high full-toss.
Jaffer emphasized the importance of the coin toss, claiming that the home team has performed well despite losing the toss in both games.
“To some extent, yes. Being 2-0 down in a five-match series, if even one of the next three goes even marginally bad [it will be curtains down]. So India will have to play very good cricket irrespective of the toss.”
"Yes, that's been the story so far. South Africa won both the tosses and both results went their way so India needs to win at least the next two tosses," he further added.
(ESPNCricinfo inputs)
