IND vs SA: Sports world divided over Pant's call to send Axar before 'experienced' Karthik

The Indian cricket team suffered a four-wicket defeat at the hands of South Africa in the second T20I of the ongoing five-match series on Sunday night at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. The visitors earned their second-straight victory of the series and took a 2-0 lead following another poor batting display put forth by India. While Shreyas Iyer’s knock of 40 runs in 35 balls was the best display by the Indian side, Team India skipper Rishabh Pant faced heat from prominent names in the cricketing circle for a certain decision made by him during the match. 

Batting in the first innings, India found themselves at 90/4, when Rishabh Pant decided to send in allrounder Axar Patel to the crease ahead of much-experienced veteran, Dinesh Karthik. The move backfired on the home side, as Patel managed to score only 10 runs in 11 balls, while Karthik played an unbeaten knock of 30 runs in 21 balls and took India’s total to 148/6 in 20 overs.

Meanwhile, legendary cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar, Graeme Smith and Gautam Gambhir slammed the Indian skipper’s decision to send Axar ahead of Dinesh. Speaking to the live broadcaster of the India vs South Africa, T20I series, Indian legend Gavaskar said, “Lot of teams have only kept their big hitters for the last 4-5 overs. When actually, if they had been sent earlier, because they have the ability to work things around, they don't necessarily have to hit sixes from the time they come in. The fact that when they get to the batting area and work the ball around, they get the feel of the wicket and they can bat accordingly in the last 4-5 overs”. 

'Look at how many games he has played for India': Graeme Smith on Pant's decision

Former Proteas skipper Graeme Smith was also part of the same discussion and further questioned the decision made by Pant. “I don't understand. Karthik is one of the most experienced cricketers in India. Look at how many games he has played for India. Never mind the IPL, how can you Axar Patel ahead of him? This is mind-blowing,” Smith said. 

'149 could have been 169': Gautam Gambhir on sending Axar before Karthik

In the meantime, the World Cup 2011 winning player for India, Gautam Gambhir also weighed in his thoughts regarding the same and said that Karthik should have come to the crease after Hardik’s dismissal. “Dinesh Karthik is a player whom you want to keep for the last 3-4 overs. But he had to come early as Hardik Pandya was dismissed but if he should have come ahead of Axar Patel and given himself 10-15 balls, probably he would have done more damage to the opponent. 149 could have been 169 had he given himself the opportunity,” Gambhir said.

Gambhir further added that moving forward, a specialized batter like Karthik should be given more chances so that he does the most damage in the death overs. While India set a target of 149 runs, SA cruised to victory with 10 balls remaining in the game courtesy of Henrich Klaasen’s knock of 81 runs in 46 balls. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the lone bowler to leave an impact as he returned with the figures of 4/13 in four overs.

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