The crowd at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, was left disappointed as the local boy Axar Patel was benched and Washington Sundar was picked ahead of him. The selection fell flat as Sundar was wicketless with the ball and was dismissed cheaply in the unsuccessful run chase against the Proteas despite a promotion in batting order. Many questions have been raised on the selection strategy after the massive 76-run loss. India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate revealed that Sundar’s ability to bowl in the powerplay overs made the think tank go with him instead of vice-captain Patel.
"I don't think it's as straightforward as that," ten Doeschate said. "In our analysis, we felt the biggest threats were going to be Quinton de Kock, Ryan Rickelton and David Miller. When you can only pick one of the two options, we leaned towards someone who could bowl in the powerplay. Axar can bowl in the powerplay occasionally, of course. But we feel we've got Washington to a point where he's found a way to be effective in that phase."
While there was some merit to what Ten Doeschate, the execution didn’t justify it. South Africa lost Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton early on in the innings but Sundar wasn’t introduced until the powerplay overs were completed. When David Miller arrived at the crease, the fifth over was handed to Varun Chakravarthy and then Arshdeep Singh continued his spell. India squandered the early advantage as Miller and Dewald Brevis launched a counter-attack. Milloer went on to score a half-century, helping the Proteas post 187/7.
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Ten Doeschate hopes Axar understands why he was benched for the crucial encounter.
"But the strategy was built around that initial assessment," ten Doeschate explained. "In a tournament like this, you want - and expect - players to understand that every decision is made with the best intentions: to pick the strongest XI for that particular game. I hope Axar sees it in that spirit as well."
In the warm-up game, he had taken a wicket and contributed with an unbeaten 35 against the Proteas. He picked two wickets each against USA, Namibia and Pakistan at the group stages. He was dropped down the order and recorded two consecutive ducks.
Ten Doeschate on team combination vs South Africa
The former Dutch cricketer reiterated Sundar's bowling prowess in the powerplay overs. He also tried to explain why he wasn't introduced into the attack during the fielding restrictions. In hindsight, he feels having a frontline bowler instead of an all-rounder may have been the right choice. However, the team management wanted Rinku Singh batting at no.8, indicating that Sundar’s promotion was not on the spot.
"A key part of today's strategy was how well he [Washington] has bowled in the powerplay in T20 cricket," he said. "The idea was to go in with three frontline bowlers plus Washington, with two others sharing the fifth-bowler's role. Winning the powerplay was going to be crucial. We had envisaged Washington bowling two overs up front, not necessarily being 30 for 3. That early position then gives you flexibility with the bat as well.
''In hindsight, you could argue that leaving out a batter and playing an extra frontline bowler might have been the right call. But when you're making decisions in real time, we felt we needed Rinku as, effectively, an eighth batting option. That was the thinking behind the combination.
"It's certainly not a reflection on Axar - his leadership and importance to the team are unquestioned. But this is the challenge we face almost every week: fitting 11 players into a squad of 15. It's not easy, and we have to make sure we get it right for the next two Super Eight games.
"On balance, given that we expected most of the threat to come from left-handers, and that we wanted the extra batter, it came down to a straight choice between Washington and Axar. And we went with Washington."
India’s NRR dips, next clash vs Zimbabwe
After a massive defeat, India's net run rate (NRR) has taken a serious hit. They need to win their next two matches against West Indies and Zimbabwe by good margins to rule out the possibility of missing the semifinal spot due to inferior NRR. India will now face Zimbabwe in their next clash on February 26 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.